Lovebites & Razorlines
by MaybeWolf
Summary: Post The Worst Couple, Jade is on the side of highway brooding in her car. Yeah, Rade is endgame for this one.
1. The World Comes Crashing Down

**I saw the new episode and this just kind of popped into my head. **

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><p>The break up was horrific.<p>

"Lets play some cards." Beck's words filter through the stunned silence of the room. His gaze lingers on Tori's front door before he rakes a hand through his brown locks and turns away. I release Trina and haul myself to my feet, feeling like the rooms upside down with Jade at Beck's side. The harsh squeal of Jade's tires spinning as she leaves blows through the window. It's the sound of finality, the end of Beck and Jade.

"I'll pick up the cards." Cat's voice lacks it's usual vigor, no matter how hard she tries to plaster fake enthusiasm to her face. The little redhead is a hell of an actress, but not even she can hide how shaken up she is after what we just saw.

"Make sure you get all 52." Andre mumbles, brushing a stray dreadlock into place and trailing behind her. Tori lingers in the background, her deep brown eye swimming with concern. I know that right now, she's probably trying to formulate a plot to reunite Beck and Jade, it's one of the things I've always loved about her.

"Kay, kay." The sound of Cat's voice as she replies to Andre wrenches my gaze from Tori. My eyes follow Cat as she flits around the room, bending at the waste and counting as she picks up each of the cards.

The sound of Cat's counting is the only respite from the unbearable tension that comes with sitting at the same table as Beck. A black cloud hangs above his head, he's just barely holding himself together. His eyebrows dig into his nose and he screws his eyes shut. I can't tell if it's from tears or anger.

We play through a few hands of poker and it's all incredibly awkward. Beck sits stiffly in his seat, a storm raging within his eyes. Tori tries to stitch together conversation a few times, but it inevitably seems to fall apart. I feel like I'm suffocating from the tension, so when I look down at my watch and see then time, relief washes over me.

"Well I'm gunna go. Rex is expecting a ride home." I state, disguising the relief that threatens to break through my words. I feel bad to abandoning Tori, Cat and Andre with the brooding mess that is Beck, but I can't handle this sort of tension. All it does is conjure bad memories of my childhood.

"See you at school." Tori replies, plastering a smile to her lips as she watches me push out of my seat. Meeting her gaze, I wonder if that's jealousy that I just saw flash through her eyes. Beck's malignant form seeps into the corner of my vision and I'm certain that it was.

"Bye!" The sound of Cat's enthusiastic voice wrenches me from my thoughts. She's smiling widely and waving goodbye, lifting my arm, I return the gesture. The smile on the edge of my lips fades away as I wave goodbye to Andre and Beck. His sour mood is enough to burst whatever sense of happiness Cat had gifted me. Turning on my heel and pushing the front door open, it's almost refreshing to be blasted by the cold wind as I walk into the night's air.

I pull out of Tori's driveway, intent on retrieving Rex from the girl that I had lent him to. Usually I'd be annoyed about driving all the way out to Northridge, but as the trees race past me and music fills the interior of my car, it doesn't seem so bad. I'm starting to think that maybe this drive is just this thing I need to relax after a stressful night. No sooner has the thought passed through my mind when a familiar blue car emerges from the darkness, engulfed in the glow of my headlights. I know exactly whose car it is, but I race past it, not even daring to watch it disappear into the blackness as I race forward. I flick my indicator on and take the next turn into Northridge.

All through the drive into Northridge and through reclaiming Rex, there's a sickness within me. A gnawing deep within my gut and a small voice in the back of my mind that's calling me a coward. I throw my car into gear and take off in the wrong direction, in the direction of a blue car that's haunted my thoughts since I passed it originally.

My car comes to a stop on the opposite side of the road to Jade's car and I feel my heart begin to race within my chest. It's not the good type of hammering either; it's not the type that I get around Cat or Tori sometimes. This is more like the kind of hammering somebody that's about to be thrown to the lions might get in their chest.

I force myself to step through the driver's door and brace myself for the worst as I pump my wobbly legs across the road. I call out Jade's name, but her head is buried in her knees, the tresses of her raven hair falling over her face and cocooning her from the world. From the bass coming from her car, I realize she probably can't even hear me.

I round the front of her car, coming to a halt in front of where she's slumped over. I throw my arms into the arm, sending them hurtling back and forth in a futile attempt to catch her attention. Her name spills from my throat for what feels like the thousandth time and it's beginning to feel like gargling razorblades. I'm on the verge losing my voice and giving up when her head shoots up and her eyes fall on me. Jade's eyebrows dig into her nose and her lips tighten into a thin line. Her piercing blue eyes seem to slice through me and as I step towards her, my heart is seemingly trying to shatter my ribcage.

"What the fuck do you want?" Jade throws the words like daggers and her eyes narrow into slits. I swallow nervously, withering under the intense scrutiny of her gaze. I have to question whether this was a good idea or not, right now it's seeming on par with allowing Trina to beat me up to try and earn some brownie points with Tori. Either way, I'm going to end up with an injury to my internal organs.

"I came to see if you're ok?" The truth spills from my lips before I can think of a lie. Jade's eyes scan me for any trace of a lie and the words catch in my throat as she analyses me. I feel like she's either trying to burn a hole through me or simply set me ablaze with her eyes.

"I'm just peachy. Leave now." Jade's poisonous reply lacks it's usual sting once her eyes fall away from me, like she's given up on her fearsome act. I shift my weight from one foot to the other, unsure of what to do. I know leaving would be the easiest option, but I can't bear the thought of something happening to a…well, a friend I guess.

"Uh…" My tongue flails limply in the bottom of my mouth as I search for the words to justify my continued presence. Jade's eyes find me again, her lips flickering as what I suspect to be a torrent of insults threaten to spill out. Sucking in a lungful of air, Jade composes herself, the urge to verbally massacre subsiding.

"Just leave." The lack of force is more startling than any shriek that could have passed Jade's lips. The eerily calm within her voice swirls around me, pushed through the air by the chilled February wind. Before my eyes, a pane of glass rises from the door of Jade's car, ending the possibility of any further conversation. I back away from her car, spinning around and beating a hasty retreat.

I shift my car into gear and hurtle down the highway and I feel like a coward. I stare at the road ahead to avoid seeing Jade sink into the distance in my rear vision mirror and once again, I feel like a coward. I'm dimly aware of the music that filters through my speakers, but it no longer offers any catharsis as I replay the night's events in my mind. Ahead of me, a neon sign comes into view. Memories of Jade's desire to eat just before everything had fallen apart assault my senses and before I know what I'm doing, my car is pulling in into the Good Burger drive thru.

The aroma of fast food fills the interior of my car as I shoot out of the Good Burger drive thru. The road twists in front of me as I hurtle towards an uncertain fate. As the spaces between buildings widen and the crushing depths of the ocean come into view, I realize that I'm drawing nearer to my final destination. Veering around the final bend, my pulse quickens and I pull over to the side of the road. Knowing Jade is only a few feet away and probably in a worse mood than when I left her, I wish I had a suit of armor, or at least some kind of protection. Drawing as much lungs as I can, I reach over the center console and wraps to fingers around the bag containing my order. Heaving a sigh, I throw myself through the door and towards an uncertain fate.

"What do you want?" There's irritation, but no real malice in her words. Jade peers up at me through her eyelashes as the streetlights project my silhouette onto her. Her fingers slide away from her lap and the sound of screaming and galloping guitars assaults my ears as her window rolls down. Threats brew on her lips before her gaze dips and the words dying in her throat as she sees the crumpled bag that my gnarled fingers are clutching.

"I brought food." I mumble, shoving a brown paper bag in her direction and hurling my gaze to the ground. I've never really paid attention to what Jade eats, so I just ordered a wide variety of things for us to share. It strikes me as odd that I'm standing on the side of a road anticipating a beating from the girl that I just bought food for. I guess it's kind of pathetic really.

"Why?" The sound of her voice draws my eyes back to her face. Her eyebrows lay heavily above her piercing blue eyes. Even with the trails of mascara running down her cheeks, she's still an intimidating prospect, maybe even more than usual. I search my mind for answers; even I'm not entirely sure what keeps dragging me back here. I guess it's just that I know how it is to be alone, to have your heart ripped out and stomped on.

"You said you were hungry earlier so…" With a stutter, the words creak forth nervously, deserting me as Jade begins to shuffle from her seat. I don't think I've ever felt more uncertain while speaking to somebody and my voice deserts me as Jade leans forward, her long curls spilling out of the window. Her arm slices through the air, fluttering in the direction of what's in my hand.

"I'm more hungry now, gimme." She demands with a whine creeping through her tone. With a step forward, bag disappears from my grip and the sound of rustling paper fills the nights air. Jade's face actually softens as she looks through the bag, her usual mask of irritation giving way to something softer. I wouldn't call it gratitude, but it's definitely not the open hostility that I'm used to. Biting the inside of my cheek, I suppress the urge to laugh as a small plastic toy is wrenched from the bag and thrown into Jade's passenger seat.

"Here you go." Without a second though, I hand the bag to Jade. The mind fogs as I try and figure out what to do next. I wonder whether or not I should stay, whether she'll tear me to shreds or offer her thanks.

With a shrug, I turn on my heel, ready to go home. I figure that I've pressed my luck enough; if I stay any longer I'll probably end up wearing the one burger that doesn't meet her requirements. Hopefully if I leave it like this, Jade will walk straight past me on her path of destruction at school on Monday.

"Where are you going?" my heat begins to race again as Jade's voice cuts through the night's air and freezes me in my steps. I really hope she's not brandishing a pair of scissors of something. Despite my apprehensions, I notice that her voice wavers, something more than anger bubbling beneath the surface, something less intimidating. The flicker of vulnerability disappears from her eyes and her face rearranges into its usual angry glare as my gaze meets hers though.

"I was gunna…go." The words dribble from with lips pathetically as I point towards my battered red convertible. Jade hurls herself backwards and disappears into the night before the door of her car flies open and she stomps forth. She shoves the door closed behind her, using more force than was probably necessary and slumps against the cool metal. Her hands hang limply at her sides and I feel my throat tighten and it feels as though her eyes are paralyzing me.

"I don't eat hamburgers alone." Her words are succinct, cutting straight to the point without hesitation. I open and close my mouth, feeling like a fish out of water as I attempt to summon to courage to refuse her request. One sharp glare later and I'm watching Jade slip into the darkness as she stomps past her car.

"Hurry up." Jade's flicks her words carelessly over her shoulder as she disappears from sight. A sigh of defeat rattles from my throat and I push my feet towards the ground, racing after her. As the night's air stings my cheeks, I feel like an idiot, like a lamb to the slaughter. In no world is this a good idea, but I follow her anyway.

We amble along the side of the highway and the only sound is the rattling of a can. I almost feel pity for the inanimate object as it skitters down the road, pummeled forward by Jade's foot. Each second seems to cling onto the last, time seemingly locked in place before we finally veer left and something emerges from the night.

Jade comes to a halt, peering over at an ominous looking skeleton of twisted metal before pressing on once again. I trail behind Jade, echoing her footsteps in the hope of avoiding a grim fate at the hands of her idea of the perfect place to eat Good Burgers. The unease within my gut builds as we make our way past the rusty slide. Well, it's actually more rust than slide. Only the basic framework remains, blanketed in a cobweb of rust.

My eyes dart throughout the gnarled metal surrounding me as Jade trudges towards the only safe looking structure in the entire playground, the swings. Gracefully, she spins on her heel and lands on one of the swings. I wince as she makes contact with the worn rubber, expecting the whole structure to collapse even under her miniscule weight. I lower myself into the swing next to her with meticulous car; I'm still half expecting everything to come crash down around us. Beside me, Jade seems to share none of my concerns as she rummages through the Good Burger bag again.

"Here." Jade mumbles gruffly, hurling the bag and the remaining food at me once she's stripped the bag of what she wants. Shoving a hand into the bag and cradling it against me with the other, I draw a cheeseburger forth. Placing the bag on the ground below me, I peer down at the burger in my hands and realize just how surreal this scene is. I'm sitting in a dilapidated playground eating burgers with Jade West, right after Beck and her broke up.

Jade throws a wrapper into the distance, signaling that she's finished eating. Even in the moonlight, I can see that her eyes are still red and that they're probably still burning from her tears. I debate whether or not I should offer her something to clean away the make up that's bled down her cheeks. In spite of the turmoil written within her face, there's a sense of calm swimming within Jade's eyes, something that had been missing before we came to this playground. I wonder how long things have been bad between Beck and her, how far away she saw this coming.

"Shapiro, why are you here?" Jade's voice tears me away from my contemplation, for once there's no malice in her voice. It's not a loaded question, but the shock of silence shattering is enough to see me flinch. It's also enough to see me hurtling backwards, lose my balance and almost tumbling to the durst below. Thankfully I manage to grope through the air and take hold of the chains either side of me in time to right my position again. Jade's lips curve in a vague sense of amusement, but her cruel laughter is absent as I mull over her question.

"Are you mad?" Her silence is unnerving and I'm not sure if there's a right answer to her question. I'm not sure I even have an answer to her question either. Jade pushes her lips forward, not committing to an answer either way as she runs her fingers over the rusted chains supporting her.

"Of course I am. Not at you, just life. You know. Don't think I like you or anything though, I just tolerate you." I know her words are meant to wound, but the sharpness seems to have disappeared. I think Jade realizes that too, before another word can pass my lips, she throws herself forward, landing on her feet in one graceful movement. I know it's my cue to leave unless I want to be stuck here alone.

My eyes trail around the tall shadows that seem to be advancing on me and a shiver runs up my spine. I trail Jade without a word of complaint, leaving my remaining food where it lays. Maybe some rats will eat it. I have no doubt that they're lurking in the shadows.

Jade's footsteps aren't as heavy when we return in the direction of her car. It no longer seems like she's trying to stomp a whole through the earth with every step. She even speaks to me once or twice, nothing to indicate that we're friends. It's just the kind of small talk that two strangers would make in an elevator, but it's a world away from the suffocating silence of the walk to the playground. Time seems to crawl faster than before and we're standing in front of Jade's car before I know it. When she looks back at me she's not trying to will me to spontaneously combust like usual, I could even swear she's not just merely tolerating me.

"Right. So uh…bye. I'll pay you back sometime." Jade's words filter awkwardly through her lips as she screws her hands together, I don't think she's used to having friends. Not that I'm a master of social relationships, but even I know this is unnecessarily awkward. Jade chews on her lower lip before stepping forward and clapping me on the shoulder. I wince as her hand comes in contact with me, rattling my bones. Jade's eyebrows dig into her nose and she rolls her eyes at me before whirling around and unlocking her car. Stepping back as she climbs in, I wait for her to hit the gas pedal and fly down the road. The sound of her engine spluttering and dying catches me off guard, wasn't in the script.

Curse words hurtle forth from Jade's car, slicing through the night's air like daggers. Hearing the shimmering of her keys and the spluttering of her engine, I know that despite the obscenities tumbling from her mouth, Jade hasn't given up yet. The vague parallels between Jade's voice when her car won't start and her taste in music jumpstarts something in my mind. Of course her batteries dead, who knows how long she had been blaring music with the engine off before I arrived?

Before me, Jade has moved into the next phase of trying to start her car. She's abandoned trying to start it the conventional way, and her fists and raining down blows onto her steering wheel. Jade's raven locks whip throughout the air, as if they have some form of consciousness and are lashing out at the world. Pushing toward the whirling madness before me, I screw my eyes shut and hope for the best as my trembling hand reaches for the hand of Jade's door and wrenches it open.

"Stop freaking out." The command spills from my lips before I realize what I've done. My eyes widen as the torrent of rage before me subsides and Jade whips her gaze toward me. Terror grips me, not just the kind of terror when you realize you've forgotten to study for an exam, but the bone jarring, heart clenching terror when you know death is a mere formality. I'm so preoccupied that the quiver of Jade's lips barely registers in my mind. It's not until I feel her body slam against me and feel two arms link around my back, that I realize Jade's not going to kill me…

Yet.

Jade's shoulder shake up and down as sobs quake through her. Her hair pools against my chest as she crumbles in front of me. I've never seen Jade like this, never seen her lose complete control before. Even when I had first arrived at her car, she hadn't been like this. Feeling her tears soak through my shirt, I know that her bleeding mascara has probably ruined it, but that doesn't seem important at the moment. I stand rooted to the spot, lost in though for some time before it occurs to me that I should probably hug her back. I raise my arms mechanically, and stiffly wrap them around her. Everything about this is bizarre.

"I need a ride." Jade croaks, the words just barely hold themselves together as the stumble through her tears. I nod stupidly, I'm not even sure if she can tell that I've heard her. I stroke her shoulder, like I'm trying to hold a wild animal at bay. I guess that's not so very far from the truth though, in a way, Jade is like a wounded animal right now. She jolts upright without warning; I guess I had been too invasive, because she pushes me away.

My arms dangle limply at my sides as Jade tries to piece herself together back in her car. She's sitting on the edge of her seat and her legs a dangling over the edge, swaying slightly. Her dark hair coils around the sides of her face and between the streaks of mascara and the glare she's plastered to her face, I see something else, something unfamiliar. Jade West is uncertain. It occurs to me that she probably didn't feel me nodding and assumed I was trying to make a move, and not just trying to avoid having my eyes clawed out.

"Lock your car, lets go." My lips quirk upwards into what I hope is a reassuring smile. The concern vanishes from Jade's eyes a weak smirk hitches itself to her lips as snatches her keys from the ignition and climbs out of her seat. As she locks her car, I can't help but wonder what I've gotten myself into. Jade tosses her keys into the Gear Of War bag that she's rarely seen without and pushes forth, once again leaving me to chase her.

"So, where to?" I ask, tumbling into the driver seat as Jade reaches back and clicks her seatbelt into place. She bites down and catches her bottom lip between her teeth, slumping forwards slightly and attempting to shadow the pained look in her eyes. With every passing second that she's silent, I feel like her seams are growing ever closer to unraveling, she's growing ever closer to another breakdown. After all of the cruel words she's said in past, it's strange to say, but I kind of hate to see her cry.

"I don't have anywhere to go." She mumbles, flattening her palms on her lap and continuing to avoid my gaze. Locks of raven hair tumble over her face as she throws my glove box open and begins to rummage though it. I'd be more concerned, but there's nothing interesting in there and Jade's always going through other peoples stuff, I'm just used to it. A heavy silence falls over us as I contemplate my next words, screwing my eyes shut, I desperately try to think of something else to say, but I can't. I keep coming back to the same words.

"We could go to my house?"

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><p><strong>And there you have it, the first chapter. Kind of a slow start, but I doubt Jade would react too well if Robbie tried hitting on her straight away. Leave some reviews why don't ya? I'll probably get discouraged and give up if nobody is interested lol.<strong>


	2. Light With A Sharpened Edge

**Here's chapter two. It probably could have used some more editing and fine tuning, but I just got the itch to write the next chapter so i moved on...lol**

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><p>To my surprise, Jade doesn't make a big deal out of my suggestion. She doesn't rip my eyes out of my head or throw me out of my car; she simply offers a slight shrug before turning away from me.<p>

The ride to my place is filled with the kind of tension that I thought we had left behind for the first few moments. Jade sinks into her seat and descends into her own thoughts. It's not until I plug my Pear Phone into the stereo that Jade shows any sort of interest in the real world.

"No!" She shrieks, hearing the soft indie music filtering through the speakers. Without another word, she stuffs her hand into her bag and retrieves her Pear Phone. Mentally, I prepare myself. Before I know it, the sounds of wailing guitars and machinegun fire guns fill my ears. My eyes dart to Jade; the darkness in her eyes seems to have receded as she nods her head in time with the music. Throwing my gaze back to the road, I shake my head slightly; Jade's mind will probably forever remain a mystery to me.

I pull the car into my usual space and throw it into park. The music in the car dies away and Jade's mood sours slightly. She notices me looking at her and the frown on her face deepens, the eyebrows digging into her nose. Without a word, I tug my keys from the ignition and sling myself out of the drivers side door, on the other side of the car, Jade does the same.

"What are we doing here?" Jade's eyes blow open at she peers up at the massive structure in front of me. The golden lights illuminate the steel letters, which spell out the name of my home.

Hollywood Hilton Hotel.

"I live here." I state simply, skirting the issue and pressing toward the main entrance. I don't stop to look, but I'm almost certain that I heard Jade roll her eyes. She takes a few long strides and within moments she falls in line with me as the massive doors open, allowing us into the main lobby.

"You gunna tell me why you live here?" Jade's voice cuts through the light jazz music that fills the room. It's massive and the acoustics seem to amplify her voice. I rummage through my pockets, looking for my room key as we wait in an elevator.

"You gunna tell me why you can't go home?" The hard exterior of Jade crumbles around me in an instant. Watching as she completely shuts down, guilt seeps into me, searing everything that it touches. The tips of my fingers tingle, wondering if it would be acceptable to offer a hug to her. I retract them as the story of the snake biting the old man comes to mind.

She's still a snake.

"I'll tell you when we get inside, ok?" I offer, hoping that it will be enough to placate her. Jade's lips quirk upward and I almost get the feeling that I've been had until I see the lingering darkness within her eyes.

We walk along the hallway, me stepping lightly as to avoid waking anyone, while Jade stomps alongside me. Pursing my lips, I decide not to push my luck by saying anything about it to her. I've seen Jade turn on Beck before and she loved him, she simply tolerates me. I doubt that it would be pretty. Finally, we reach my door and I slide the key into place and throw the door open, revealing the place that I'd loosely describe as home.

"So, nice place. How'd you come by it?" No sooner have we stepped through the door and Jade cuts straight to the chase. Her hands are planted firmly on her hips and from the look of determination on her face; I know that I might as well just tell her what she wants to know. Heaving a sigh, I take a seat at the breakfast counter, motioning for Jade to do the same.

"Well, my parents had to move back to New York because dad got a promotion and…" Instead of joining me, Jade stomps past where I'm sitting and head straight into the kitchen. Spinning on my seat, my gaze comes across the sight of Jade rummaging through my kitchen. She's already gone through my pantry and is now peering into my fridge.

"Go on." She mumbles, leaning further into the fridge. I remember Tori telling me that one time Jade had gone through her entire room without her knowing. Watching as Jade pulls out a bottle of orange soda, it's almost like déjà vu. The orange liquid fills Jade's glass and without another word, she's draped over a seat next to me.

"Uh, anyway…they gave me the choice to either go with them or stay here. I decided to stay at Hollywood Arts." I'm tempted to say more, but I remember this is Jade. The sharp edges of her words may have dulled, but she's not exactly above using something like this against me. Jade purses her lips and nods slightly, the most interested I've seen her act when I've been speaking to her.

"Right, because you're so popular here." She snorts, at least allowing a beat to pass before tearing down my self-esteem. I force a short laugh at her comment, masking the very real stabbing sensation her words have left in my gut. Jade lifts the soda to her lips, her eyelids fluttering closed as the orange liquid slides down her throat.

"So, we know why I'm here. Why are you here?" My throat tightens and the words trail from my throat with hesitation. Jade's gaze returns to me, and I feel myself wither under her scrutiny.

"Some nerd with a puppet picked me up and dragged me here." She replies, lips pushing forward in what I guess you could call a smile. It's a lot closer to the expression a predator might give its prey before devouring it whole though.

"C'mon. Seriously…" I can't disguise the whine in my voice, the words coming out in a pathetic wheeze. The amusement in Jade's expression only deepens, her eyes seem to twinkle, if only for a second. The moment passes and Jade crosses her arms over her chest, a huff of irritation shooting past her lips.

"My dad kicked me out and I don't know where my stupid mother is. I was living with Beck but…yeah." Jade's voice clatter into the air, ambling forth as though she's literally having to push them through her lips. Silence falls upon us again and Jade's teeth briefly come into view as she bites down on her lip.

"You better not tell anybody about this." Jade's words have that dangerous edge to them again, slicing through the air like razors. Her eyes narrow dangerously and her eyebrows slam down above them. Honestly, each of her facial features offering their own specific sense of menace.

"Or the puppet gets it, I know, I know." I try to laugh off her threat, though I know it's not just empty words. I shudder as the memory of the time I had leaked a video of her and Beck through Robarazzi comes flooding back. The menace seems to drain from Jade's eyes with my retort; her eyebrows raise and link together over her nose. Confusion clouds her previously razor sharp glare.

"Am I that predictable?" She mumbles, fixing her eyes on the ground. I whip my head towards her, wondering if there's something that I've missed.

"No, why?" I speak slowly and keep my limbs tucked close, much like you would around a dangerous wild animal. Jade regards me cautiously, like she's sizing me up. She cocks an eyebrow and her piercing catches in the light, I'm left wondering as Jade pushes to her feet without another word passing her lips.

"I'm tired, where's the bed." She announces, already throwing the door to my room open, walking inside and slamming it shut. I slump back in my seat, turning to hold onto a thought. After a night like this, everything seems to spiral around in my head, like debris caught in a hurricane. Eventually, a thought takes root though, a horribly disturbing thought. Jade West is in my room…alone.

Heaving a sigh, I throw myself out of the seat and stride towards my room, a feeling of dread pooling in my stomach. I allow each step to linger on the ground before pushing forth, wrenching every second for all I can before I have to confront the possibility of Jade destroying my room. I pass through the threshold of my door and immediately, I'm confronted by a gnarled pile of Jade's clothes on the floor. My throat constricts and I feel as though the air of my own room is trying to strangle me.

Jade's lying on her back, staring up at the ceiling. She blinks a few times at the click of the door as I close it, though she doesn't acknowledge me directly. The light filters through her eyelashes, drawing long lines across her cheeks. Her raven hair is splashed over my pillows, covering them in a blanket of spiraled locks. I shuffle forth, coughing slightly to get her attention. Jade props herself up on her elbows, peering at me through a few stray wisps of hair.

"Got everything you need? I could get you more blankets or pillows or…" My innocent question quickly descends into an incoherent trail of rambling words. Mercifully, Jade pushes a hand towards me, silencing the deluge of nonsense streaming from my lips.

"I'm fine." She replies, through a scratchy voice. The hard edge to Jade's voice isn't there and I'm not sure what to do. I bounce on my heels uncertainly, not used to anything but being bludgeoned by Jade's words. I'm horrible at one on one situations with girls, even more so when that girl is Jade. I decide to leave before she decides to throw something at me.

"I'll be on the couch, if you need anything." I wrestle the words from the throat and enunciate them with some difficulty. Jade's eyebrows knit together at my words, a look of concern swimming in her eyes. I swallow the lump in my throat and turn away from her, intent on leaving this stifling atmosphere.

"Why? This bed is freakin' huge." Jade's voice flies over my shoulder and lassoes me to the spot. I whip my gaze back to her. My eyes blowing open as I realize that she's telling me to just sleep in here, next to her. A heavy silence falls over us as my lips flail uselessly, my tongue flailing around uselessly in my mouth.

"Yeah, but what if…" My voice trails off, a million reasons not to do this attempting to break through my lips at once. Jade shuffles into a seated position, more loose spirals of her hair hanging over her face.

"What? Are you saying that I'm fat and will take up the whole bed?" She snaps, and for the first time when she yelling at me, I can see a hint of warmth in her usually cold eyes. Even still, it's no less terrifying and I stick to the spot, like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming Eighteen Wheeler.

"No, uh…" The words tumble from my lips, only serving to fill the space between Jade's ranting. I wonder if this is something that she made habit of with Beck. I almost feel like I should get him a medal for dealing with this for so long.

"Then what? Does my smell offend you Shapiro? Should I bath in wood chips or wear a pine scented air freshener around my neck to remind you of Rex?" I purse my lips to avoid laughing at her latest insult. Jade's eyes crinkle and I can see amusement dancing within them. Whether that's because she's enjoying what she perceives as my misery, or because she's just having fun is up for debate though.

"Fine. I'll sleep next to you, your highness." My mouth creaks into action before my mind does, my voice ringing through the room as I realize what I've just committed to. Screwed my eyes shut again, while ignoring the smug look on Jade's face, I step across the room and round the bed.

"Damn right." Jade mumbles under her breath as she slinks back into her previous position. I realize that the reason Jade was so insistent on sharing my bed probably had nothing to do with me, it was probably just about wrestling back some sense of control.

I offer a quiet goodnight, though it bounces off the back of Jade's head with no indication she had heard me. My mind is plagued with thoughts and the nervous apprehension of being so close to Jade still lingers within the pit of my stomach. Even still, I fall into the sweet embrace of sleep soon enough.

I'm in the middle of a wonderful dream centering on one of my close friends, when a sudden stinging wrenches me from her arms. As I open my eyes and the fog of sleep clears, I turn to where the source of the pain had come from, finding myself face to face with Jade.

My eyebrows crash heavily over my eyes and annoyance is plain to see in my features. Without warning, Jade snarls and I feel myself flying off the edge of my bed, landing in a heap of bones on the ground below. Clenching my jaw and grimacing as pain races through my veins, I know this is my fault. My fault for trying to be the knight in shining armor, my fault for trying to break the status quo.

"I was awake and you started snoring." Jade shuffles along the bed, her head and arms poking over the edge, as she looks down at me. Her dark locks tumble over her face, obscuring any vision I would have had of her expression. Though, I think I saw her teeth glint in the moonlight. I force myself into a sitting position on the floor, the limbs protesting loudly all the while.

"Did you have to launch me out of the bed?" I complain loudly, irritation rattling through my words. Another glint in the moonlight, Jade's never going to change. She's always going to injure me whenever possible, I don't even know why I bother.

"Yes." Her answer trickles into the night's air and confirms my suspicions. I'd find myself even more irritated if it wasn't for the fact that she's swept the hair from her fair and I can see her eyes. The small amount of light in the room seems to catch in her iris, causing them to sparkle with amusement. I cobble together my bones and force myself into a standing position. Jade peers up at me, something that could pass for innocence in a warped reality coming across her features.

"I'm going to sleep on the couch." I mumble, tearing my eyes away from her and rubbing the back of my head to remind myself that she's more deadly than she looks. When I sweep a pillow into my hands, I catch a glimpse of Jade from the corner of my eye. Her lips press into a hard line and the amusement has left her eyes, I could swear that I see disappointment flicker on her face for a second. It doesn't last long though, with a few jerky movements, Jade takes over the bed, her limbs splayed in every direction.

"Night." Jade's voice rings out through the darkness, not because it's loud, but because of how soft it is. A shiver runs up my spine as I shut the door and stumble toward the couch. Tumbling on to the cushions of my couch, the haze of sleep once again seeps into my mind, though visions of blue eyes haunt my mind, no matter how hard I try to vanquish them.

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><p><strong>Starting off slow, but I'm trying to get them to a point where they can stand to be in a room together before any...er...THINGS happen between them.<strong>

**Go on, leave a review. I know you want to. :)**


	3. Pure Morning

**Check it out...**

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><p><em>"No words could ever describe the feeling,<br>the feeling of holding onto your ghost."_

I tear my eyes open to the sound or razor sharp sounds filtering through unfamiliar surroundings. Blinking rapidly, the events of last night flash before my eyes. I realize that I'm on my couch, and those sounds are more than likely Jade's music. Sitting up and stretching my arms, a yawn drags through my throat. I pick up my phone and flip it over, peering down at the screen, I'm horrified by what I see.

7:32am.

"Why am I awake this early?" I groan, screwing my eyes shut and slumping back into my couch. Raking a hand through my hair and stifling another yawn, I tousle my air and haul limbs that are still half asleep into a standing position. Whirling around, I realize that I won't have to go far to find Jade. She's in the kitchen, sitting on the breakfast counter with her back to me.

"Morning." I mumble, almost losing my footing at Jade's sudden flinch. She turns away from the coffee maker she had previously been waiting for, no doubt trying to threaten it into boiling faster. As her glare comes to rest on me, I notice the bags under her eyes. My mind spirals in thought as I wonder how long she's been awake.

"Shapiro." She greets, offering a slight nod in my direction. My lips part as a question lingers on the tip of my tongue, but the jug choses that particular moment to come to a boil. Jade's attention immediately leaves me, a blur of wavy black hair in its wake. With a shrug, I spin on my heel and step towards my room, intent on acquiring some clean clothes and taking a long, hot shower.

I fall through the entrance to my room, my eyes blowing open as I take in the changes that have occurred since I was last in it. I wonder if Jade got any sleep last night, there had been so much clutter, so many misplaced clothes. All of it is gone now, everything in tidy piles or gone completely. Rummaging through my closet, I eventually find the pair of black jeans and flannel shirt I had been looking for. I hold it up briefly, my lips pressing together in a frown as I realize just who usually wears flannel. Throwing it back on the rack, I pull out a safe, neutral colored shirt, one that Beck would never be caught dead in. I'm not taking any chances with a single and sleep deprived Jade waiting outside for me.

The water cascades over me, the heat washing away any lingering tiredness within me. I'm whistling merrily when the creak of my bathroom door snaps me from my song. I nearly tumble over my own feet before I manage to retake control of my limbs and grab a towel to hide behind. Seeing a streak of black bustle through the door, I curse the hotels taste in shower curtains. I have no doubt that if it weren't for this towel, this would be an even more awkward situation.

"When you're done we're going to get my car." Jade's impassive voice ambles through the air, though I can barely hear her over the thudding of my heart. I wonder if Jade's parents ever bothered to teach her manners. Considering the fact that at some point they kicked her out, I guess not.

"Yeah, sure, fine. C-can you get out now? Please?" I stutter, barely managed to wrap my tongue around the most basic of words. Even through the curtain, I can see the dangerous glint in Jade's eyes, the flash of her white teeth as an evil smirk crosses her lips. Like it's my only option, I whirl around and come face to face with the wall. Maybe if I ignore her, she'll go away.

"Whatever." She mutters, before I heard the clapping of her heels against the floor. I breathe a sigh of relief when I here the door creak shut. Slinging over my shoulder, and onto the rail supporting the shower curtain, I attempt to focus on enjoying the rest of my shower, while ignoring the fact that I was naked in the same room as Jade.

"Nice package, Puppet Boy." A familiar voice weaves through the air and filters into my ear with a purr. Instantly, eyes blow wide open and my hands clap over the aforementioned package. Glaring at Jade, I see her leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the room and realize she had faked closing the door.

"Get out! Get out, get out, get out!" I shriek, hurling the words at her with as much force as I can muster. Jade's lips curve at the edges, a sly smile hitching to her lips as she gracefully pushes off the wall and slinks out the door without another word.

I spend the rest of my shower as a coiled ball of nerves, ready to spring into action at the first sign my privacy is going to be invaded. Jade's comment lingers in the back of my mind, the shock that she hadn't outright laughed at me without my pants on providing the kind of ego boost that can't be bought.

I amble out of the bathroom some time later, dried, dressed and wonder what horrors await me. I have a sinking feeling that Jade didn't spend the time I was absent in an idle state. My gaze flitters around the room, eventually finding her sitting on my couch, hunched over something.

"What are you-" I don't even bother to finish my question as I round the couch and see one of my shirts in one of Jade's hands and the glint of a pair of sharp scissors in the other. Her eyes leave the task at hand and lock with my own, a mischievous glint replacing the usually malicious intent concealed within them.

"I needed a fresh shirt for today." She explains, head dipping back to the task at hand as I slowly lower myself onto the couch at the opposite end to where Jade is slowly destroying one of my black shirts. Heaving a sigh of exasperation, I lean forwards and pick up the TV remote.

"Hey, I let you pick out what you wanted first, don't get snippy with me." My brows hang heavily over my eyes as I turn back to her, jaw hanging slack as I attempt to process Jade's definition of consideration. Screwing my eyes shut and shaking my head, I abandon the endeavor when my brain starts to ache.

"Thanks." I mumble through gritted teeth as the sounds of SpongeBob filter through the room and my mood begins to lift. It could be worse I suppose, Jade's only destroyed one thing with her scissors since I let her in and she's been relatively docile the other than throwing me out of bed. I shudder slightly, there's a sentence I never thought I'd would pass through my thoughts.

"Was that really so hard?" Jade taunts, waving her scissors through the air for emphasis. Even though she's not directly threatening me with them, I still cringe when they wave in a direction that's remotely close to where I am. Jade's harsh front softens, actual laughter tumbling past her lips for a brief second before she stifles it and pushes off the couch, heading towards the bathroom.

The next 20 minutes or so is bliss; I can almost pretend that I'm the only one here. By the 25th minute boredom sinks in though, and I find myself heading towards my room, intent on pulling Rex out and giving him a polish. I pass the bathroom on the way, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted to repay Jade for earlier. Not really feeling in the mood to die on this fine morning, the thought quickly passes.

"Hey girl, what say me and you ditch the nerd and go practice the horizontal tango?" When Jade steps through the bathroom door, wrapping in only a towel, Rex's voice is the first thing to greet her. Raven locks cling to her porcelain skin as she sneers at Rex and me. I cower behind him slightly, though no part of me regrets Rex's words.

"You wanna go through a woodchipper?" She snarls, before stomping into my rooming and slamming the door. Even moments later, I'm still blushing a deep crimson. When Jade had breezed past me, her towel had slipped slightly, exposing a lot more of her chest then I'm sure she would have shown me voluntarily. My mind is a jumbled mess of thoughts and feelings, nothing seemingly sticking out amongst the haze.

"Get up, I need my car." Jade's voice frees me from the labyrinth that has become my mind, though it's a brief respite at best. I whirl around and my breath catches in my throat when I see her emerge from my room.

Jade's slightly damp hair is still resting on her shoulders, shoulders that are just barely holding up the tattered remains of my shirt. What had once been a Pink Floyd t-shirt is now something resembling a halter-top, with a plunging neckline. Several small knots in the bottom clutching it to Jade's voluptuous figure. Resting on her slim waist are a pair of jeans that I had outgrown last year, but never gotten around to throwing away. They fit Jade perfectly though, simulatiously leaving me gasping for breath for thanking god that I was ahead of the pack in regards to wearing skinny jeans. I tear my eyes from her with the realization that she might be a gank, but she's sure got a way with scissors and men's clothing.

"Let's go." I croak, the words scratching through my throat as I lift Rex and myself off the couch. Jade pushes past me, and Rex hangs heavily in my arms as I throw the door shut behind us. I glare at the floor, trying to ignore the hypnotic sway of Jade's hips as she strides down the hallway ahead of me, wearing my clothes better then I could ever hope to.

"Where are you going to go?" I've been mulling the question over since we'd first stepped into my car, but I've only now managed to pluck up the courage to vocalize it. Jade's eyes whip away from the landscape rushing past as and towards me as soon as the question passes my lips. There's no intensity in her gaze, just the confused thoughts of a 17 year old girl with no place to call home.

"Dunno." She replies with a shrug, carefully veiling her words with an impassive tone. Even through stolen glances between looking at the road, I can tell she's worried though. Hell, Rex can tell she's worried and he's not even real, well in the physical sense anyway.

"You can come sleep with me, baby." Rex's voice slides out before I can halt it. Gritting my teeth and screwing my eyes shut painfully, I wish that I could control him still. The Doctor Mom insists I see seems to think he's manifested himself because of my family being so far away, whatever. Pulling myself back into reality, I see Jade peering at me, and not where Rex sits in the backseat. Her eyebrow is arced and there's a questioning look on her face, like she's reading more into it then she should. Rex and me are two different people.

"If you think you can handle it, wooden man." I whip my head towards her, thanking god we're at a red light right now. I'd probably have swerved off the road had we been moving. Jade's caught her bottom lip between her teeth and there's something devilish in her eyes, something that I'm sure signals nothing but bad news for me.

"We're going to need to pick up your clothes at some point then, aren't we?" The words streak through my lips before I can even mull over the possibility. Slumping into my seat, I wish I could learn to keep my big fat mouth shut. Tryin to suppress some of the shit Rex wants to say is bad enough, but now I can't even control my own mouth?

"Seriously, dude?" The razor edge leaves Jade's voice and her eyebrows rest high on her forehead. Peering at her before we put this red light in the dust, I observe genuine surprise on her face, like she'd never expect somebody to do this for her.

"Yeah." I reply, forcing the words past the lump in my throat. I can barely believe I'm about the let Jade live with me. Before last night we'd never even been in the same room alone, but now I'm going to spend every waking moment with her until she finds somewhere better? It seems like insanity. Sneaking a peak at her cleavage, I know it's insanity, the worst kind of insanity.

"Yeah. I'll drive though, you'll get us lost." The practiced hardness returns to Jade's words, though the razor sharp edges seems to have dulled, just slightly. I push my foot down on the accelerator, sending us hurtling through the lights and towards Jade's car.

"So we'll double back to my place, drop my car off and then get your clothes?" I ask, making sure I know what we're doing. Surprisingly, the battery cables had jump started Jade's car with little to no trouble after she dragged them out of my boot. I guess have a car whizz for a boyfriend had rubbed off on her.

Then it hits me, the location of Jade's clothes. I barely notice Jade's reply to the affirmative as I stumble back to my car and fall into the drivers seat, feeling completely numb as I realize just exactly what awaits me when we've dropped off my car.

We're going to Beck's RV.

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><p><strong>If anybody is wondering what Jade was listening to in the morning, it was "Rusted Over Wet Dreams" by Emmure, you know something that sounds as though it's bludgeoning the air around it. If you're going to listen to it, make sure your speakers aren't on full blast to start with ;)<strong>

**Kind of a short chapter, but trust me the good stuff is coming up in the next one...here's a sneak peak.**

"Opening my eyes, to a haze of blurry colors and taste of my own blood, I fall into consciousness with a thud. Blinking several times, I realize that Jade is crouched over my fallen form. She's kneeling down, one hand clasping my glasses and the other pointed towards Beck, as though she's warding him off. When it comes to me, Jade's face has only ever shown casual indifference on a good day, but right now her features are warped."

**Review and it'll get finished a whole lot faster :P**


	4. Ain't Love Grand?

_**"It's so hard to see when your eyes are rolling in the back of your head,  
>it's even harder to speak when everything you say just comes out wrong."<strong>_

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><p>The hands on my watch spiral around and around, by the time they're crawling past 9am I know this is the stupidest thing I could possibly have gotten myself into. Jade hurtles into Beck's driveway and screeches to a halt only feet away from his RV. I clutch as my chest, trying to still the quaking in my chest and Jade shoves her door open and trudges around the front of the car.<p>

I peel myself out of Jade's car and linger against it, realizing that I'm about to walk into the emotional equivalent of World War 3. It makes me wish that I'd thought to bring a helmet of some sort, I expect Jade to start hurling things through the air within four words of Beck's first sentence. Before I can lose myself even further in thought, I feel Jade's slender fingers latch onto my shoulder. We're hurtling towards Beck's front door and Jade's tossing curse words carelessly into the air with every step. I grimace as Jade's fists crash into Beck's door and the clatter of skin colliding against metal rings through the air.

"What?" Beck's unusually gruff voice brings with it an end to the cacophony as he hurls his door open. My legs tremble, wanting to take a step back as Beck glares at us, looking less like himself and more like the killer he played in a short film last semester. His usually perfectly coiffed hair is flying wildly before his eyes and his face is drawn into a stern expression that seems foreign on his features. Jade's aggression falters, her shoulders slumping as uncertainty drags away her usual confidence.

"I need my clothes." Jade mumbles, her eyes tumbling towards the ground between her and Beck as the words crumble from her lips. I linger a step behind her, crushing Rex against my chest like he's enough to dissociate me from this uncomfortable moment. Tension hangs thickly in the air as Beck takes in Jade's words, seemingly as unnerved by the lack of venom in Jade's words as I am.

"Oh." A flicker of concern lights within Beck's eyes, but he spins around and it's snuffed out as he retreats back into his RV and shuts the door behind him. I chew the inside of my lip, a thread of hope that Jade's going to storm up to Beck's RV and kick the door in hanging in my mind. She doesn't though, Jade stays frozen in the same spot she had been in upon first seeing Beck. Where I had expected a fire breathing dragoness is a sad girl standing alone with her fingers twirling through one of the electric blue streaks in her hair.

"Y-you ok?" The words clatter forth, trembling into the silence apprehensively. I lift a foot, in preparation of movement, like I'm going to walk over to her and be the one to make things go back to normal for her. I think better of it as Jade's eyes fall upon me. A coarse laugh rattles through her lips, chilling me to the bone. It's the sort of laughter that you might hear from the criminally insane, or maybe it's just the kind of laughter you hear from the broken hearted.

"I'm just peachy." She says after a moment, trying to remember what her own voice is supposed to sound like. It's not her voice though; it's like somebody to a pale imitation of Jade. The sneer at the edge of her lips is there, as is the slight crinkle in her nose, but everything just seems to lack it's usual sting.

I'm dimly aware of her choice of words; an echo of the same ones from last night. When Jade's gaze flickers back to me for the briefest of moments, I notice her lips push forward slightly, like it's the most pitch black of comedy, our own shared joke. It's not a true grin, but I suppose it could pass for a smile's malnourished cousin. That small amount of happiness dies on her lips as her ears pick up the sound of Beck's door opening.

Beck's door flies open again and Jade whirls around in time to see Beck stomping down the stairs of his RV. His back is hunched, the weight of Jade's luggage weighing him down, though he's handling them with a grace that reminds me of just how pathetic I am. The clatter of Jade's suitcases bouncing off the asphalt reverberates through the air as he places them down in front of her.

"Where are you going?" Beck asks, brushing a lock of brown hair behind his ear. Panic grips me and I force my hand over Rex's mouth, like it's enough to silence him, like he'd actually say something. My eyes fly to Beck's hair, everything seems to be steeped in green now, I'm reminded of how jealous I've always been of his hair, of his life in all honesty.

"Does it matter?" Jade spits the words forth like they're a poison and her shoulder drawn together tightly. It's like somebody had poured gasoline on the embers of her anger. Where Jade had been falling apart at the seams is a woman ready to go to war. Beck returns her sharpened glare with his own scowl, his eyebrow crashing over his nose angrily.

"Of course it does, Jade. I still care about you." Beck squeezes his eyes shut, like he's taking a step away from his emotions and recomposing himself. When his eyelids rise again, it's as though he's just arrived back from a blizzard, he's calm and collected. He's the very opposite of Jade. My eyes tremble between Beck and Jade, her knuckles are bleached white and thick vein is popping out of her throat. I can feel her bubbling, like a dormant volcano that's ready to blow at any moment.

"If you must know, I'm going with him." The words tumble carelessly from Jade's lips, throwing me for a loop. Jade's casual words are like the flittering wings of a butterfly in a far away land, causing a hurricane where I stand. My eyes blow open and I shift my weight to my other leg nervously. Beck's eyes darken, something malignant corrupting his usually saccharine brown orbs. The concern drains away from his features as Beck's face twists into something entirely different. His lips clench into a thin, menacing line and I'm quivering like a leaf in the wind, as he turns to me. I feel a lump from in my throat as my eyes dup to where his fingers are gnarled and his knuckles bleached white as his rage pools within them.

"What? Why him?" Beck's words drip with tension, he's glaring at me and I feel as though I'm withering away the longer I maintain eye contact with him. Like a coward, my eyes fly to the ground, focusing on a thread hanging off one of Jade's suitcases. I try to lose myself in the thought of carrying them back to her car and just how difficult it's going to be.

"Because he's a real man obviously. Not because the alternative is finding a nice cardboard box or anything Beckett." Jade hisses, the words coming out as something just above a primal growl. I inhale sharply as I feel her fingernails dig into my flesh as she latches on to my shoulder and drags me towards her. My spine feels like it's going to rattle out of alignment when Jade's arms pool at the small of my back. When Jade's face comes to rest against the crook of my neck, I strangle Rex in my arms like it could wake him up and get me out of this awful situation. Her dark locks blanket my shoulder, tickling the skin of my arms and my stomach knots.

"Jade, come on. This is low, even for you." Beck's face softens, the tension drifting away as he takes in the scene before him. Then Beck's laughter shudders through the air, slicing through me with every passing chuckle. Rex falls free of my grip and crashes into the asphalt below with a sickening thud as I realize I'm no more human to Beck then Rex is. Bile burns the back of my throat as I melt into Jade's arms. I know what I'm about to do is wrong, but it's funny how anger burning through your veins can impair your judgment. At least that's what I'll tell myself.

Jade stiffens as I wrap my arms around her, panic creeping into her eyes. Acid sears the back of my throat as I trail a finger over her spine, though I notice betrayal stings just a little bit less when they're reacting just as you had planned. My lips are the daggers that I'll stab Beck in the back with, Jade's vital organ that he'll bleed from. I lean forward and sweep Jade into a kiss, hating myself for allowing the bitterness that's been festering in me rule my actions. I tell myself this doesn't mean anything; this is just me proving a point, I don't actually like Jade. This is just a stage kiss for an audience of one. Jade's nimble fingers tangles through my hair, drawing us ever closer, almost close enough to almost forget that this kiss doesn't mean a thing. Her tongue brushes against my lips and just as I'm about to cross a line, I feel a strong, angry fist clench my shirt and drag me away from Jade.

Beck's eyes speak of nothing but ill intentions. It's with a grim satisfaction that I feeling the sickening thud of his knuckles slam against my jaw for the first time. I spiral towards the ground, my body going one way and my glasses plummeting in the opposite direction. The ground meets me a lot faster than I had been expecting and I skid off the gravel, flakes of my skin catching o the ground before I come to a halt.

With the taste of copper in my mouth, I try to focus my vision on what's before me. Jade is frozen to the spot, her make up blurred around her eyes and trailing down her cheeks. I realize just how hard Beck must have hit me, I almost thought I saw Jade West and compassion in the same place at the same time. Beck's eyes are still fixed on me and it's as though a battle is being waged within them. A wave of emotions swirling through his darkened orbs before a muscle flickers in Beck's jaw, and he's advancing on me again. It's as though that punch was only the opening shot in a war that I know I'm not going to win.

"What the fuck was that? How long has this shit been going on?" Beck's voice bludgeons the air as he raises his palms to the heavens. When silence is the only answer to Beck's question, his hands ball into firsts again. The conflict within his eyes dies, everything but his rage is incinerated as he brushes past Jade. It drives the air from me as Beck's larger frame crashes down on me. I can barely reach up and cover my face as Beck's hands fly though the air, raining blow after blow upon me. As his fists continue to rain down on me, my mind retreats in on it self and I black out.

Darkness envelops me.

I feel as though a tank has hit me. I open my eyes to a haze of color and muddied sounds. With the taste of blood on my lips, I fall into consciousness with a thud. Trying to blink away the pain, shock rattles through me as I realize that Jade is crouched over my fallen form. She's kneeling down, one hand clasping my glasses and the other pointed towards Beck, as though she's warding him off. I try to suck in a breath, but the feeling of my ribs creaking and screaming painfully makes me think twice about it. Jade's hair hovers above my prone form and there's something comforting about it. Whether it's because I know Beck would never touch her, or because it's human contact, I'm not sure.

"Fuck…tell him I'm sorry." The words creak out of Beck's mouth and despite the fact that he's just beaten me within an inch of my life, I know he means it. My mind circles the possibility that all of his rage was really directed at Jade, I was just a vessel to accept his wrath. The sound of Beck's door shutting rattles through the air and I peer up at Jade, noticing the guilt written into her features.

"What was that? Seriously puppet boy, you pick that very moment to make a move on me?" Jade's eyebrows knit together and her face tightens into an expression that I'm more familiar with. I know she's trying her best to sound angry, but the absence of her hand around my throat and the anguish that's tumbled into her eyes is a dead give away that she's more worried then anything.

The moments shuffle past us, I'm not sure if I'm unable to move or just unwilling. My lungs rattle painfully when I try to drag more oxygen into them, and I could swear I can hear the shattered remains of my ribs grinding together. I'm lost in my own thoughts when Jade clicks her tongue and pushes herself into a position where she's looming over me. In an instant, she's hauling me from where I lay on the ground. I had expected her to yank my shoulder out of its socket and wrench me into a standing position, but she's methodical, caring even. First, she pulls me into a seated position, before taking my hands and pulling me to my feet and ducking under my arm to support me until I'm steady.

"I…" I try to speak, but blood dribbles forth, sliding down my chin and staining the concrete below. Jade's lips part and I'm almost certain she's trapped between concern and the morbid fascination blood evokes within her.

I push my lips into a smile, not wanting to drain her reserves of concern too quickly. It crumbles from my lips as I realize that I can barely move my jaw, with that twitch of a muscle, the anger flies off her face. I feel horrible as guilt wracks Jade's features, warping her perfect bone structure into something that seems alien. Her lips quiver and the Jade that I've known for so long shatters in front of me.

"Fuck. We'll talk about this later, we're going to the hospital." She mutters, forcing herself not to fall apart at the seams. Before I can even try to force the words past my lips, Jade is acting as a living crutch and dragging me towards her car. My chest heaves and rattles as I try in vain to keep oxygen in my lungs. By the time we reach Jade's car, I feel as though my body is going to fly apart.

Jade extends her free arm and nimbly drags the door open without displacing me. I protest feebly when she moves away from the passenger door and deposits me within. For the sake of my price, I find myself wanting to double back and load the suitcases for her. I'm about to demand she let me try, but the way that Jade drags her eyebrows down low and purses her lips tells me that I should just do as she says.

So find myself sitting pathetically in the passenger seat of Jade's car as she drags two heavy suitcases away from Beck's RV, her teeth gritted as she strains with every step. By the time she reaches the car, a thin sheen of sweat coats her body and her shoulders jump up and down as she sucks in mouthfuls of air. Peering into the side mirror, a sight that drags my body away from the pain that seems to be written in my every fiber greets me. Jade's still wearing the tattered shreds of what was once my shirt and a rivet of sweat trails down the valley between her breasts. I screw my eyes and force myself to think of something else, anything else. Being caught leering at her right now could be potentially fatal. It's just my hazy mind. I'm not really looking at Jade like that; I'm just punch drunk or something.

The sound of Jade dragging the door shut next to me pulls me from the sheep that I had been so focused on counting. Without a word, Jade throws her car into drive and sends up hurtling out of Beck's driveway. We're screaming down the road at breakneck spend and I'm rapidly losing count of the traffic violations that Jade is leaving in our wake. The buildings fly past us as the mental image of Jade tearing any officer foolish enough to pull her over floats into my mind. I imagine that one look at the expression on Jade's face and they would send us on our way without another word.

I'm lucky apparently, not just because we arrived at the Hospital in one piece, but apparently I'm fine. After hours spent in the purgatory of a waiting room, we finally got to see somebody when Jade started threatening orderlies. After a seemingly endless array of tests, the Doctor tells me I don't have a concussion and I don't have any broken bones. I'm so doped up on painkillers by this point that it all passes by in a blur. I scarcely notice Jade take me by the shoulder and lead me towards her car again.

Either Jade's driving is less frenetic as I direct us back to the hotel or the drugs I'm on have ruined my perception of time and speed. Through the haze, I can't help but notice the way Jade's hair hangs over her shoulders in loose curls, reminding me of a pitch-black ocean. My mind flounders whenever I try to focus on anything else, it's got to be the drugs though. I just can't focus on anything that's not tangibly in front of me I tell myself. Time spirals past me and before I know it, the blinding lights of my loosely defined home flash before our eyes.

"You can get the suitcases later." Jade announces, jamming her car into park in a space not too far from my usual spot. Her words sail in one ear and out the other, just barely registering with my befuddled mind. Jade huffs loudly, before hurling herself out of the car and landing gracefully on the concrete below. When she rounds the car and throws the door open, it dawns on me just how huge her car is, she's at least a foot shorter than usual. Without a word passing her lips, Jade reaches up and drags me out of her car with the kind of practiced grace that only a parent would usually possess.

The trip back to my room is a haze of numbers, doorways and lost moments. Jade never strays too far away, but she never comes too close to me either. She's almost like a beaten guard dog, protective, yet never more than a step away from lashing out. We come to a half in front of my door and I fumble through my pocket, searching endless abyss for my keys. Eventually, my fingers clasp around them and I clumsily slip my door key into the lock.

As we pass through the threshold and into my suite, I realize just how needlessly complicated my life has become since I had last been in this very room. I now have a long-term roommate, one of my best friends almost beat me to a bloody pulp and I feel like I've gone through a meat grinder. Jade guides me toward the couch, her eyes finally deserting me once it becomes clear I'm not going to crumble into dust. Peering over at Jade as she ambles past me and into the kitchen, I find myself drifting in and out of consciousness.

What a fucking morning.

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><p><strong>So there you go, hope it lived up to peoples expectations. It took me a while to upload this because I was trying to balance Beck bludgeoning Robbie and also giving him a reason to do it. What did you guys think? Fail?<strong>

**Anyway, this was pretty heavy, but the next chapter is a little more fluffy. Here's an excerpt from what I've got written so far. It probably gives you an idea of what to expect.**

"Did you make this because of my jaw?" I ask, bracing myself against the breakfast counter opposite Jade. It's difficult to breath and I'm kind of regretting making the trip over here from the couch.

"No, I just like soup. Now shut up and eat." Jade punctuates her response by thrusting her ladle into the soup and filling a bowl for me. As I peer down at the bowl, steam rises from it and I have to admit, Jade's soup looks infinitely better than my attempts at the same recipe. Wrapping my fingers around the bowl, I take it from Jade's outstretched hands, feeling a burning sensation in my cheeks as I make contact with her fingers for a stolen second.

**Go on, leave a review. You know they power the part of my brain that writes. ;)**


	5. Happiness By The Kilowatt

**I'm gunna do this now, since if I don't I'll forget. The lyrics are from a song called "Rough Hands" by Alexisonfire. If you're going to listen to it, try and have an open mind about the vocals. I chose it because it just seems to sum up the Bade of this story so well, while seeming like something Jade would listen to. Anyways, enough from me…**

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><p>As I skid into consciousness, I feel as though I've stepped directly into the body of a wounded soldier. This morning was a war and I was the first casualty. Through the veil of darkness, I spy the television flickering before me; the images dust an eerie blue glow over the room. My eyes spill over the room, taking in the scene before me. Jade has drawn the curtains, as if to conceal us from the enemy, from the outside world. As I sit up, the sudden rumble of Jade's combat boots stomping towards me crashes through the air like gunfire.<p>

"Put this on your jaw." Jade hisses, hurling a bag of frozen peas towards me like a live grenade. I thrust my hands into the air and manage to curl my fingers around the projectile before it has the chance to slam into my face. I raise the makeshift icepack to my jaw, relishing the soothing effect it has on my aching jaw. A smirk trails across Jade's face as she traipses around the coffee table and drops onto the couch next to me.

After a few moments, I find my attention drifting away from the television and towards the girl draped over the couch next to me. Jade's watching the show intently, her eyebrow piercing glinting in the pale glow of the screen. I chew on my lip as I wonder how exactly I should be approaching this situation. Jade's mind is like a labyrinth, armed with pitfalls, traps, false endings, and darkened corners. Arriving at the perfect thing to say with Jade is a task that's nigh on impossible with my mind as foggy as it is right now.

"Thanks…er, for the icepack." The safest reply I can think of stumbles from my lips. I'm nothing if not original. Jade's eyes whip away from the show that had somehow managed to hold her attention, landing on me. I spy an alien emotion hidden in the deepest corners of her emerald eyes, one that's so faint within their depths that I wonder if I'm seeing things until Jade's lips push forth into the echo of a smile. It's the kind of smile what flickers and dies as soon as it's been detected.

"What's the log in to your WiFi?" The question rumbles from Jade's lips in lieu of acknowledging my words. Shaking away the feeling that I've managed to piece together another riddle within the quandary that is Jade, I decide not to mention it. We're skirting the issue and I notice Jade's eyes lingering on my face. It's not like she's checking me out, she's just taking inventory of my wounds. I assume it's to calculate how much longer she has to be civil towards me or something like that.

"Robbie loves broken glass. All one word." I fumble through my mind, eventually coming out with the answer. Jade's eyes shift towards me and I feel a crimson tingle skate across my cheeks. Jade quirks an eyebrow in my direction and her lips part slightly, a question that I'm dreading forming on her tongue. I wince as a yawn rumbles through my body, disturbing my ribs from the shattered heap they were comfortably resting in. I peer though the veil that is Jade's hair, wondering why she's holding back on speaking. Jade's the shoot first, think later type, usually leaving a trail of destruction in the wake of her words.

"As in the song?" She asks, finally throwing the words into the air and leaving me wishing she hadn't. I heave in a deep breath and slide down the backrest of the couch even further, until I'm almost peering directly into my knees. Allowing my eyelids to roll over my eyes, my mind trails back to the day in question. As usual I had played a song for everyone and it had been universally panned. Well, I had thought so anyway. The second time I played a snippet of it, Jade had actually admitted to liking it. That was the shining moment of a day that was drenched in humiliation and food based outfits.

"Yeah. It was the first song I've written that anybody ever said anything nice about…" I reply, noticing the rapidly sharpening expression on Jade's face. We might be on semi good terms at the moment, but Jade really despises waiting. As my words sink in, Jade's body shoots upright, as though my words have sent a bolt of electricity through her body. Emerald eyes blow open and their usually placid depths are clouded, like she's lost in the same seam in time I had been.

"Me?" She mumbles, pointing towards herself and still looking like a startled deer. Feeling my energy rapidly circling the drain, I nod towards her. My gaze remains on her for just enough time to notice the ghost of a smile cross Jade's lips. It's the last thing I see, and with my body screaming for rest I shut my eyes. As I slip away from the waking world, the image of Jade's smile haunts the back of my eyelids, bringing all of the confusion of the real world into my dreams along side it.

My eyes flutter open and my senses are assaulted by something unfamiliar, but not at all unpleasant. A delicious aroma sails through the air, spiraling around me and lifting me out of my slumber. Rapidly blinking the remnants of sleep from my eyes, I notice the faint sound of Jade's music rumbling through the air. It's so much quieter than this morning, the music sounding a world away, rather than feeling as though it's reaching into my eardrums are pummeling them. I know I'm reading too much into it, but I can't halt the smile that drifts over my lips.

"_Sometimes love isn't about how much someone suits you__  
><em>_but how much you're willing to change to suit them__  
><em>_All my bones are dust__  
><em>_Two people too damaged, too much too late__  
><em>_and my heart's sealed with rust"_

I twist around and peer in the direction of Jade's voice, expecting to see her stomping around in the kitchen, tortured by her memories of Beck trying to alter her behavior. Instead, Jade's hair hangs loosely over her face as she hovers over a simmering pot. A world away from the chaos I had expected to fill my vision, Jade actually looks to be at peace for once. I notice just how beautiful she is when there isn't a scowl etched into her face. Jade's eyelashes cast long shadows over her cheeks; the storm within her eyes seems to have subsided since I was awake last.

"What's cooking, good looking?" I drape myself over the back of the couch with some effort and the cheesy line slides into the air between Jade and I. Jade's eyes fly towards me, her eyes widening as she realizes that I'm awake once more. Her fingers skitter along the bench, clasping a ladle as she shakes her head slightly. I feel a lump in my throat as the metal glints in the light, my muscles coiling as I prepare to leap out of the way, should it come hurtling towards me. It's all for naught though. A smirk appears on Jade's face, and something resembling a snort of amusement emanates from her lips as she lifts the ladle to her lips and samples her concoction.

"Are you making soup?" The ridiculous question drifts from my lips before I can stifle it. I cringe slightly, expecting a glare that could kill and sharpened words to match to come flying towards me. Jade's eyebrows do draw together, and she does shake her head, but the blazing fury of her hatred seems to be late in arriving. A mere spark of annoyance crosses her features as she leans forward and drags her Pear Phone closer. I'm expecting her to drown me out by turning the volume up, but instead, she mutes the song that had been playing.

"Obviously." She finally replies, making sure to color her words with irritation. Shaking her head, I see a flash of her teeth as she bites down on a smile. I find myself hypnotized by her movements, my mind enraptured by her presence. My mind swirls as I confront the possibility that this is the Jade that Beck got to see. The softer side of Jade that's more kitten than killing machine. I drag my battered limbs off the couch and amble toward the kitchen, regretting the action more and more with every step. By the time I come to a halt in front of the kitchen bench, I'm convinced that the doctors missed a broken rib or three.

"Did you make this because of my jaw?" I push the words forth with some effort as I brace myself against the breakfast counter opposite Jade. It's difficult to breath and I'm definitely regretting making the trip over here from the couch. Her eyes slink away from the soup and lock with mine, narrowing in suspicion.

"No, I just like soup. Now shut up and eat." Jade punctuates her response by thrusting her ladle into the soup and filling a bowl for me. Peering down at the bowl and watching the level rise, I have to admit that Jade's soup looks infinitely better than my attempts at the same recipe. Wrapping my fingers around the bowl, I take it from Jade's outstretched hands, trying to hold the grin from my lips. It's been a long time since somebody cooked anything for me.

Whirling around, I force myself to walk back to the couch, wincing each time my ribs move even slightly. Pushing forth, I'm moving at a pace that's nothing if not glacial. With three long strides, Jade leaves me peppered in a fine coat of her dust. Ignoring the smug look bubbling just beneath her calm exterior, I round the couch and lower myself into a seated position. I slam my eyes shut and grit my teeth, feeling as though my bones are crumbling. A few seconds graze past me, the crack of Jade's hands slapping together peeling me out of my thoughts. To my left Jade is applauding my effort, well sort of. It's not a sincere applause; it's more like the kind of reaction she gives to Tori after a performance.

Sarcasm in its most pure form.

"You're too kind, thank you, thank you." I deadpan, flattening my voice so that it's devoid of all tone and placing my palm over my chest, as if I'm accepting an imaginary honor. A slight smirk hitches itself to Jade's lips and I find myself longing to see this Jade more often. This is a Jade I think I can actually deal with having as a roommate.

As minutes fly past as Jade and I devour the soup she had prepared. I can honestly say it's the best thing that's ever been prepared in my kitchen. While the liquid in my bowl slowly disappears, the gears in my mind tick over as I conspire to get Jade to cook more often.

"Thanks, for the soup Jade. I appreciate it." I comment, sighing happily as I swallow the last of the meal, relishing the final time the flavors of Jade's soup will dance over my tongue. The sound of metal clattering against porcelain rattles throughout the air, pulling my eyes towards Jade. Her eyes have hardened and her lips press into a tight thin line. Watching Jade's eyebrows dig into her nose, I wonder what I've done to burst her mood.

"Why'd you do that?" She mumbles, glaring into her bowl and trying to stitch her words together so that I don't notice the cracks. I'm on the verge of asking whether she's talking to the soup or me, but the question dies on my lips when Jade's gaze flickers to me for a moment. Now is not the time for a smartass comment.

"Do what?" I know the question's obvious, but I can't drag the answers from the quandary that is Jade by myself. When Jade's eyes lock with mine, my muscles flicker, the fear that Jade could lash out at any moment flying through me. There's no jolt from her arm though, no collision of porcelain and bone, no movement at all from Jade. She sucks in a deep breath, her chest expanding and momentarily diverting my attention from Jade's eyes.

"You said thanks, idiot. Do you know how many times I cooked for Beck and didn't hear a single stinkin' word of gratitude?" With a serpentine tongue, Jade's words pulse with venom. Her fingers wrap around the spoon in her bowl, constricting around it and causing her knuckles to bleach. I feel a familiar tightening in my throat, oxygen becoming just that little bit harder to come by. Jade's trembling slightly and I realize that neither she nor Beck really had a handle on dealing with one another a lot of the time. Their relationship was always one misstep from an unfortunate demise.

Just like I am.

"I said thanks because you deserve it Jade. Seriously, your cooking is awesome. Now if you could stop strangling that poor spoon we'll be all set…" I know I'm taking a risk by tossing a joke into the conversation, but I can stand to see Jade looking so weak. I'm swimming in my own sympathies when Jade's hand loosens and she allows the spoon to clatter against the bowl. A soft chuckle tumbles from her lips, though she quickly masks it with a cough and turns away from me.

The clock drags long circles, the minutes seem to stretch into hours as my body hums with a painful cacophony of aches and pains. Jade's typing furiously on her Pearbook as the sun casts bright blocks of light through the cracks left open in the curtains. I drag my hand above the blanket pooled in my lap, it's only 1:30pm. With a groan, I thrust my arms into the sky and stretch, attempting to force myself to get used to the pain I'm going to be in for a few more days. As my arms sail back to my sides, I realize that all I've accomplished is sapping the last of my energy away. My eyelids start to feel heavy once more, and as the world around me starts to fade, I realize how pathetic this is. I'm about to have my second nap of the day and I've just eaten lunch.

I'm truly pathetic.

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><p><strong>Another chapter in the books. So far the response to this fic has been amazing! Thanks so much to everybody that's left some feedback, I love hearing what people think of my work. <strong>

**Also, big ups to Agent Taggert for offering to Beta this and fixing up some stuff for me!**

**If this update wasn't enough for you, I posted another Rade fic the other day. Go and give it a read too if you like my writing :)**


	6. Moments In Oblivion

**_"The more you change the less you feel._**

******_Believe in me, believe that life can change, that you're not stuck in vain._**

**_We're not the same, we're different tonight."_**

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><p>My eyes flitter open and I feel myself slipping from sleep's warm embrace. With a yawn, I tumble into the waiting arms of consciousness. Blinking the remnants of sleep away, I notice twin emerald orbs are already fixed on me. My breath hitches as I notice a blanket enveloping me; there's only one way this could have appeared.<p>

"Well, hey there Sleeping Beauty." Jade's voice drips with sarcasm, though it doesn't seem to cut through the air as viciously as I remember. It's like preparing for a hurricane but receiving a slight breeze. As Jade brushes a wisp of her midnight locks away from her forehead, I can't help but feel I'm being spared the worst of it.

"Did you get me a blanket?" I mumble in response, still trying to piece together frayed pieces of logic. I fold my arms over my lap, withering under Jade's gaze as her eyes trail over me. Her lips purse and I can see the gears turning within her mind. There's an uncertainty that seems reflected within her features that seems so foreign.

"Your face was offending me, so I covered it." Jade finally retorts, dragging an insult through gritted teeth. With a huff, her emerald eyes return to the Pearbook on her lap. As her fingers pummel my keyboard, Jade's eyebrows rest heavily over her eyes and the distance between us seems to grow.

"Thanks Jade." The words feel so foreign as they slip from my lips and into the heavy silence surrounding us. Between the ringlets of her raven hair, I could swear the faintest tinge of pink has emerged on her porcelain cheeks. A moment becomes two, then three, and silence descends over us again.

"Uh, you're welcome and stuff. Now order me something delicious for dinner." Jade's reply finally tears through the silence with ruthless efficiency. With one glance, I realize she's more lion than lady right now. She's circling me, but something is wrong. I don't feel like she's going to tear me limb from limb; the claws that are supposed to tear through me never quite arrive. I'm peering into the eyes of a killer, but I don't have the slightest inclination to run. I can't shake the feeling that something cosmic has shifted.

"Steak?" The word jumps past the lump in my throat, and suddenly I'm afraid again. Not because she could slice me to ribbons with nothing but words, but because she could destroy me with this silence. The seconds drag their feet, and it's torture as they amble through the room.

"I do like my food bloody…" She muses after an eternity passes between us. With her admission, the tension seems to dissipate slightly, if only for a moment. As Jade's lips curve upwards, I wonder if this could, in any way, be construed as a date. The thoughts swirl around my mind, and I wander so far into the haze that I barely notice Jade is speaking. It's not until the snaps her fingers before my eyes that I return to the real world.

"I said could you afford it though?" Jade's words hurtle through the air with a melody that belays her annoyance. Chewing the inside of my cheek, I regard her carefully, wondering what sort of angle she's playing at. Whatever lines we've crossed this weekend, I've never known Jade to turn down something free. Shaking myself out of thought once more, I rake a hand through my mop of curls and choose my next words carefully.

"I get comped for meals every now and then since I've been here for so long. I've got two vouchers laying around so we can use those." With a roll of my shoulders I mask just how much I'm bothered by what I said. It's not that I hate the perks; it's just that I'd rather have the perks of an actual family. The darkened thoughts in my mind must have shown on my face because Jade's eyes soften. Her fingers linger in the air between us, fluttering awkwardly, before she pats my leg uncertainly. A smile hitches to my lips, as Jade's feeble attempt at comfort chases the sorrow away.

"Good. You can use your remaining money to buy me coffee." Jade drags confident sounds from her nervous mouth, trying to breath an air of normality into this bizarre atmosphere. My tongue flails uselessly within my slaw-jawed mouth as confidence returns to Jade's face. I feel my mind fold in on itself as I try to comprehend her audacity. It's a lost cause though; I don't think I'll ever figure her out.

"Why would I do that?" I make a show of throwing my head back and tossing exasperation into my words. It's just lip service though, I know the end result of this conversation will be a steaming cup of coffee clasped in Jade's hand. To my dismay, she's fully aware of this fact and the smirk on her face deepens.

"We live together." She drags her shoulders upwards and shrugs as though this is an obvious leap in logic. My eyebrows draw together and I feel like every word is a trap, dragging me further into confusion. Thinking back on it, I should probably be thankful Jade didn't bill me for lunch.

"You're mistaking a roommate for an ATM, Jade." With a smile pulling at the edges of my lips, I draw each word out. Implying she lacks the mental capacity to understand me, should I speak any faster. As her name leaves my lips, Jade rolls her eyes and draws her lips into a thin, hard line. I'm not afraid though, not like I would have been in days gone by. I'm slowly coming to the realization that Jade's bark is worse than her bite.

"Well you're immobile like one…" Jade's retort pries me from my thoughts; the blunt honesty of her words catching me off guard. She doesn't even bother to hide the sense of satisfaction sparkling within her eyes as my tongue goes limp and words fail me.

"Am not, I'll move if I want to." I state defiantly, feeling as though a gauntlet has been thrown at my feet. I peel myself away from the couch and ignore the pain that sears through me as I sit up. I'm midway through suppressing a whimper when I notice a shadow hovering over me. In an instant, a slender finger is planted on my chest and I find myself sailing back onto the couch. Jade's eyes are blazing and if it weren't for the fact I'm her source or food and shelter, I'd be quaking in fear. I haven't seen her look this angry since we got home; she wasn't even this upset when I kissed her.

"I said you're immobile." She growls, dragging her eyebrows together as her lips curl into a menacing sneer. I swallow deeply, sinking back into the couch even further. Between the terror and the pain, a realization seeps into my mind. This is Jade's idea of concern; this is Jade looking after me. I find my lips curling into a smile, catching the terrifying beast above me off guard.

"Can I move for dinner?" As the words pass through my lips, I know I'm playing with fire. Jade could easily spin around and incinerate me with a simple glare. When her eyes meet mine, there's something other than malice smouldering within them. When she leans towards me, I can feel her breath searing my skin and midnight flames lick my skin.

"Only if what you order looks gross and I don't want it." She purrs, dragging her words out in the low rumble. I drag my eyes along her form, trailing the contours of her face. I'm lost in a haze, enveloped in nothing but Jade.

"How about if I order you dessert too?" I whimper, still flailing helplessly within the mental smog Jade has deserted me in. My lip trembles as she vaults over me, draping her legs over my lap. Cautiously, I draw my gaze to Jade once more. She's watching me, but the embers within her eyes have burnt out, replaced by a sense of wonder. The absence of malice within her eyes seems to draw all of her beauty to the surface. If she had been an inferno; she's something like a solar flare now.

"Tell me more…" Jade's fingers tent before her face and the spark within her eyes is almost blinding. With a gulp, I try to dissociate myself from this scene.

My eyes catch Jade's and she doesn't scowl, surely I'm wandering through some sort of twilight zone. Jade and I are draped over each other, and we're alone in a room. It's completely bereft of tension, and if I'm honest with myself, it's actually kind of perfect.

The clock drags through an hour without a second thought, and before I know it, Jade is hungry. I linger on the couch while she fetches the phone. A few short words later, and our food is being prepared downstairs. I focus my eyes on the screen before me, trying to lose myself in the Drake and Josh rerun. If I ignore my feelings for Jade, then surely they'll wither away and die. I've convinced myself it's for the best; I don't need any other injuries.

The sound of bone meeting wood reverberates through the room, prying me out of my thoughts once again. I lean forward, preparing myself to peel myself away from the couch and answer the door. But before I have the chance, a black shadow sweeps past me and steps towards the door.

"Order for Shapiro?" The delivery boy questions, as he peers down at a piece of paper in his palm. I'm trying to answer him, but laughter muffles my words. Spirals of raven hair bounce through the air and Jade tries to step past him and take possession of her steak. I don't recognize him, but I get the feel he's done this before. Like a ribbon dancing in the wind, he's blocking Jade from reaching past him. By this point, it's rounding the corner from amusing to depressing. I have to step in.

"That's me." I wheeze, finally answering his question. Pushing myself onto my knees, I turn around to face them properly. As I do so, the pout detaches itself from Jade's face and her eyebrows knit together in irritation. From the withering glare that Jade is directing at me, I conclude she still thinks I should be immobile. With my tail between my legs, I slink back into my seat. The sound of trays rattling and wheels turning peppers the air, signaling his approach.

"You know, a few candle and this would almost be a date." Jade's comment throws my mind into total disarray. As she flops onto the couch next to me, my mind is trapped somewhere between dismissing her words and analyzing them for hidden meanings. Stealing a glance at Jade, I notice her eyes trailing the same path as her steak. My mind stumbles further into confusion; I've never seen a girl get so excited over a steak. I've never seen anybody get so excited over a steak before. I'd say it's unnatural, but this is Jade. Nothing about her is natural.

"I have just the thing." The delivery boy's voice cuts through my thoughts. A question brims on the tip of my lips, but before I can vocalize it, he leans over and thrusts his arm through the skirt surrounding the edge of the trolley. Flashing me a massive cheesy grin, he produces two large candles and holds them up triumphantly. Jade's eyes blow wide open and she leans forward, arms flailing before her face.

"No stop…you don't do that…you're doing it." Jade's protests die in her throat as he ignites the wicks on each candle. With only the flickering flames as a source of light, he fails to notice the deep crimson transformation that we've both undertaken. The fool even makes the mistake of grinning at Jade before setting them down in front of us. I notice the anger in Jade's eyes is struggling with something else. I feel like her uncertainty is battling with her urge to throw the delivery boy out of our room, as well as a thousand other emotions.

"No extra charge." He comments proudly, removing the silver domes from our plates and depositing them on the coffee table in front of us. It's times like these that I wish I had a real dining table, this just feels trashy. Peering at Jade once again, I notice she's still throwing daggers at the deliver boy with her eyes. It's something that finally seems to register with him since he takes a strangled breath and rushes from the room without even asking for a tip.

"This is kind of romantic." I curse myself; I've never been good at holding my thoughts to myself. That's the main reason I usually carry Rex around with me; it's easy to hide behind the act. I brush the thoughts of my problems aside and peel myself away from the couch, before lowering myself to the ground and shuffling towards my meal. The flames of the candle lick Jade's face, but they've got nothing on the light I saw emanate from her before. That was the sort of light that could illuminate an entire world. It's something that I'm starting to think I'd do anything to see again.

"Well, it's better than my last date I guess." Jade's nonchalance just barely masks the dissatisfaction that pools with her words. Once again Jade's words drag my mind to an unfamiliar place. As she begins hacking at her steak, I'm left wondering if she really just called this a date. Dismissing the ludicrous thought, I dig my fork into the pasta before me and take a tentative bite. As I watch Jade bludgeon her meal, it occurs to me that she doesn't so much eat her food as she does attack it.

"So, about your last date?"

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><p><em><strong>Just a bit of fluff here, Robbie and Jade getting used to each other. The major stuff is coming up in the next chapter or two though. Continue to be awesome and review, then O promise the next chapter will get written faster :D<strong>_

_**Once again, massive shout out to my Beta Agent Taggert for catching things I miss and making this story easier to read!**_


	7. Sleepless Nights & City Lights

**These city lights will never be as beautiful as your eyes..  
><strong>

**I'll pick up the pieces that you've failed, and fallen to the ground.**

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><p>A groan thunders from Jade's lips.<p>

She's draped over the edge of the couch and I'm lingering in the opposite corner. I've been chipping away at her resolve for the past half hour, I think I've almost worn her down enough to learn about this date. It must have been pretty horrible if Jade had buried it so far down.

"Alright, you wanna know? You're gunna know. Beck took me to the beach in the morning, we stayed out in the hot sun all freakin' day. There were swarms of bimbos everywhere, constantly hitting on him. At lunchtime he went and got us hotdogs which were pretty much swimming in mustard…" Jade's on the verge of coming apart at the seams, and she's not even done yet. My fingers twitch and I have the urge to pat her shoulder. I can't shake the urge to comfort her, even if the murderous look in her eyes tells me that might not be the best idea. I'm not even sure if Jade is in this room right now, I think she's lost in the mists of her memories.

"Even when it was over, the horrors didn't cease. On the way home we had to wait fifteen minutes for some stupid ducks to cross the road. There were nine of them. Nine! Man I hate ducks…" In the wake of her diatribe, Jade is a heaving mess, the final stitches that were holding her together coming apart. She's dragging thick breaths in and looks to be on the verge of collapse. My stomach knots with guilt, as I realize that some things are just better left in the past.

"That sounds like a greatest hits of your Slap videos." The words are hollow and my joke clatters into the air like an uninvited guest. My fingers twitch within my lap, and I've never felt less certain of something. Jade's laughter stabs the air for a brief moment before she throws a palm over her lips and stifles it.

"So, you watch my slap videos do you?" She sounds impossibly relaxed, the calm and collected girl before me not resembling the trembling mess of a few moments ago in the slightest.

"Y-yeah, they're always trending and…you know, me always with my finger on the pulse of pop culture." My throat constricts and the words flail from between my lips, I feel as though Jade is the hangman and I've got a noose around my neck; one misplaced word and my feet will be dangling limply. A smirk hitches itself to Jade's lips and all of the turmoil that had clouded her eyes seems like a distant memory.

"Alright then Mr. Pop Culture, whatever you say." She states simply. I heave a sigh of relief, take a step backwards and remove the rope from around my neck. The real world flashes back before my eyes, I remember that I'm not a prisoner at the gallows. I'm just a boy sitting on a couch with a girl. Jade might be terrifying, but she's no hangman.

"Oh, and you can sleep in the bed tonight…seeing as you're half dead and all." Jade's words slip between the silence and drag the air from my lungs. Between two regular people, it's an offer that means nothing. But between Jade and I, it's an offer of the stars and the sky.

"Thanks. Really, thanks. But I'll just sleep on the couch. I don't think I can handle you throwing me off the bed tonight." The words roll so casually from my tongue, that I almost have to double back and make sure that they're my own. I'm lost somewhere between ignorance and bliss when I notice Jade's cheeks puff out in irritation. My nerves drag my limbs into place, and I seize up completely. She's about to tear my head off, I'm sure of it.

"I'll take the stupid couch. I don't want you crying tomorrow about being injured any more than what's absolutely necessary." I watch as Jade struggles to keep the scowl plastered to her face. Tugging at the edge of her lips, a smile threatens to envelop Jade's face before she catches her bottom lip between her teeth and bites down on it.

"Really?" I can't hold the grin from my face. Jade's words had been as abrasive as usual, but the tone had been about as vicious as a neutered kitten. I'm sitting next to her and there's this fuzzy feeling in my chest. It's not the feeling of my ribs settling into place; it's something behind then. I can't stop that certain something from beating faster when two emerald eyes come to rest on me again.

"Yes, really. Now go. We have rehearsals tomorrow." All it takes is one word to chill the warmth that had been rising within my chest. Four sets of eyes are all it will take to drag me away from this wonderful stitch in time. As soon as we step through the door and enter the Black Box Theatre, I know Jade will revert to the girl everyone expects her to be. She'll revert to the girl that loathes my very existence.

"Night Jade." I mumble, dragging myself from the couch and trudging towards my room. My feet are like lead and everything hurts just a little bit more than it should. Never before have I been less enthused to be a stagehand for one of Sikowitz's plays.

"Night Rob…Shapiro." Jade's voice stumbles through the air nervously, tittering and tumbling over my shoulder. Three letters wrap around my heart and suddenly my feet don't feel so heavy. I steal a glance at Jade; between the wisps of her midnight hair I see a pink tinge on her cheeks.

As I slip between the sheets of my bed, the faint scent of Jade lingers in the air; it's something like a cross between strawberries, coffee and bitterness. My eyelids grow heavy as thoughts of the girl in my living room dance before my eyes. With sleep beginning to descend over me, tomorrow seems so far away, yet it's shadow looms over me like a malignant specter.

Thick rays of sunlight drift between the cracks in my curtains and rouse me from the embrace of unconsciousness. As I blink the sleep away from my eyes, my emotions dwell somewhere between excitement and dread. The warmth seeps through my skin and seems to light up my bones. The agony that seemed to trail through them all of yesterday is still there, but it's not as bad. I can stand up without screaming for mercy.

I step through the living room and into the kitchen, with a shake of my head, I turn on the coffee maker. I'm no expert, but I like my chances of retaining my existence if I try to wake Jade with Coffee. I amble into the living room and past the sleeping figure on my couch. Lingering behind the couch, my eyes skate over Jade's form. The usual fierceness is missing from Jade's face and her features have softened with the peace of sleep. Her midnight strands tumble over her shoulders in crooked spirals; she's so beautiful when she isn't scowling.

Eventually I drag myself away from Jade, realizing just how creepy it was to be looming over her while she sleeps. As I switch on the coffee maker and wait for it to do its thing, I contemplate trying to wake Jade before it's ready. Common sense roots my feet to the ground and silences my words though. I've heard horror stories from Beck about Jade before her morning coffee. It's in my best interests to greet her with a steaming cup.

"Jade, it's time to wake up." I speak with a creak in my voice. Stepping towards her with a cup of coffee in my hand, I feel my heart thudding against my ribcage. Rounding the couch, I hover in front of Jade, expecting her eyes to snap open like in the horror movie. I keep expecting her to bolt upright, but she doesn't move.

"Jade, wake up." I state with more bass in my voice, throwing all of my courage into the words. Again, the girl on my couch doesn't so much as stir. My eyebrow knit together and I wonder how such a tense girl can be such a deep sleeper. Heaving a sigh, I wonder how I'm going to wake her up without startling her and receiving another black eye.

"Jade, I got you coffee wake up." Waving the coffee in front of Jade's nose, I'm hoping the smell will waft into her nostrils and rouse her from this slumber. Leaning away from her to avoid any knuckles that could potentially come swinging for me, I drum my fingers against the mug in my left hand.

"Coffee?" A faint mumbles passes through Jade's lips, drawing a smirk to my lips. She thrusts her arms into the air and arcs her back, stretching her way into the waking world. Jade's eyes flutters open and even through her long eyelashes I see her emerald orbs peering up at me. It's jarring to see Jade before the cynicism seeps into her expression. I can't help but feel as though Beck was making mountains out of molehills.

"Right here." Drawing out my words with a musical tone, I hold the mug aloft and step towards Jade once again, confident I won't lose an arm or something. Jade hauls herself upright, revealing a lacey black bra. Coughing and spluttering, my limbs seize up and I come to a complete halt, forcing my eyes not to wander below her collarbones. I could swear Jade's doing this on purpose.

"Gimme." She states, like a child that's spotted a present meant for them. When that doesn't yield immediate results, Jade 's fingers shoot forth, flittering through the air and towards the cup in my hand. Taking a step backwards, laughter tickles my throat as I watch Jade's eyes widen in shock. It's as though somebody denying her coffee is incomprehensible to her.

Deciding that pressing my luck with this particular issue is probably not in my best interest, I take a step forward. Before I can pass the mug to her, Jade's slender fingers shoot through the air and wrench it from my grasp. Dropping onto the couch next to her, I flick the television on and try to ignore the fact that Jade is almost topless. Between watching Spongebob, I steal glances at Jade as she drains the mug of its precious coffee. It seems like the lower the level in the cup, the more alive Jade looks.

"You're looking…er, less bad today." Jade states, finally having ingested enough caffeine to speak. I turn to look at her again, only to find her peering into her cup and attempting to act as though she hadn't just spoken. Even still, I can't hold the smile from my lips. My mom used to tell me that sometimes happiness comes in the most unlikely of places, like a flower coming up through the cracks of a pavement. I guess Jade is a little like that, though I'd say she's more of a rose within a lightless room.

"Feeling it." I reply, plucking the words from where truth and lies become one. Honestly, I still feel like a car has hit me. It's an improvement on yesterday though, so I'm not technically lying. I'm fairly confident that through determination and a little male make up, I can hide it though.

"Good. You can drive us to rehearsal then." The statement passes through Jade's lips carelessly. She's peering over at the television now, seemingly sidestepping the fact that Beck's going to be there, that all of our friends there. I feel my heart go into convulsions and my blood begins to burn within my veins. I think I'm freaking out enough for the both of us.

"Uh…together?" The words burn my throat as I force them into the air. I feel as though I'm dragging embers from an open flame and throwing them onto gasoline. This feels like a recipe for disaster; a moment destined to go up in flames.

"Yes, together. That's called carpooling." Jade's voice floats through the air as she draws out her words and nods towards me. Reaching over and petting my head like a dimwitted canine, Jade skirts the obvious once again. Peering between the deliberately condescending expression on Jade's face, I know she's aware of what's waiting for us at school.

"But what about the others?" My words fray at the edges, revealing the nervousness straining within me. My mind forces mental images of Jade and I walking through the door before my eyes, dragging the worst possible scenarios into one moment. Next to me, Jade crosses her arms and peers down at her thumb as it rests on her bicep.

"I don't care about them. They can find their own rides." Jade's calm words are like an oasis in the middle of the swirling madness of my thoughts. Dipping into the crystal clarity of her eyes, I see between the lines. I just hope that I'm not falling victim to mirage of what I really want to see.

The hands spiral around the clock as we prepare for the day. My hotel suite hums with activity as Jade and I dart throughout it, dipping and weaving, doing our best to prepare for an oncoming storm. By the time Jade has showered and I've done my best to cover the patchwork of pain embedded on my face, we're just barely going to make it to Hollywood Arts on time.

Trudging towards the door, a familiar figure seeps into my line of vision. Laying forgotten on a tattered seat by the door is my best friend. Rex looks no better than I do. Evidently, the spill he took at Beck's was worse than I had thought. I run my fingers along a crack that runs the length of his wooden face. I search my memories to try and remember how he got back here, but I'm drawing a blank.

"No!" Jade's piercing shriek of disapproval pierces my ears. I almost drop Rex on the spot as I whirl around and come face to face with a plainly irritated Jade West. Her midnight spirals of hair are tucked beneath a bleached blonde wig and her clothing is like something from The Sound Of Music. I suppress the urge to laugh at her appearance; she's about as far removed from Jade as one can be.

"But, I have to bring him. Who will man the lights?" I ask innocently, keeping up the pretense that Rex is a real person. I might speak to him in private sometimes, but even I know he's just a puppet. I'm not really even sure about why I do it. It's just become a habit I suppose. Some people have smoking, others have drinking. I speak to inanimate objects. Jade's eyebrows crash over her eyes and I smile towards her, infuriating her further.

"If you bring him we're not going in there together." Jade states simply. I feel as though we're constantly sparring. With those words Jade has once again taken the advantage. I mull the words over within my mind, realizing that this is the first time Jade has mentioned arriving with me in a negative light. I peer down at my wooden friend, wondering if he's really been that big of an obstacle between girls and I for the past few years.

"So you're embarrassed to be seen with me but not him?" Taking one last stab at convincing Jade to allow Rex to accompany us, I thrust him towards Jade and throw his voice into the air. As Rex comes to life, so does Jade's irritation. Biting down on her bottom lip and taking a deep breath, I realize she's holding herself from unleashing a full force attack on me. It's more courtesy than she's showed Rex or me in the past.

"I'm less embarrassed." She hisses, leaning towards the puppet and snarling. Before a reply can leave either my lips or Rex's, Jade takes hold of him an my heart leaps into my throat. It's only when she places him back into the seat I had found him in that I feel more like a human and less like a hummingbird. With my heart slowing to a regular beat, a smile tugs at the edges of my lips. Jade wouldn't have hesitated to shatter him a few days ago. As she stomps out into the hallway, I feel as though I'm beginning to thaw out her icy exterior and find the girl Beck fell in love with.

"That's almost a complement." I state. There's a glow that seems to emanate from my voice itself as I push my keys into the door and lock it behind us. Jade's silent for a few moments and only the sound of our footsteps fill the hallway. Stealing a glance at Jade, I notice she's holding another mug filled with coffee. Her eyes are once again focused on the liquid within. I'm starting to wonder if it's her way of disconnecting herself from the real world and losing herself in her own thoughts.

"It was not and don't get used to it." The words catch me off guard. It's been a few minutes since either of us last spoke. When Jade finally decides to speak we're halfway across the parking lot and stepping towards my car. Peering over at her, I notice a crimson tinge heating up Jade's cheeks. Shaking my head, I allow a smile that's been brewing since we left my suite to cross my lips.

Life with Jade West isn't so bad.

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><p><strong>I know I promised action but real life and writers block are a hell of a combo. Not to mention the damn fluff grabbed me and wouldn't let go. The action was going to take place at the end of this chapter, but now it'll be mid next chapter. Sparks will fly, I promise. <strong>

**I don't have a lot of free time now, so you guys are going to have to go nuts on reviewing to force me to find more time to write haha. :P**


	8. Ex's & Oh's

**Before I start, a MASSIVE thanks to Agent Taggert for beta-ing this beast of a chapter. There would be many more plot holes and errors without you buddy!**

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><p><strong>The weight of someone's world comes crashing down on me.<strong>

**I was longing to be free, I put the bullet in you and me.**

* * *

><p>We're a crimson speck at the foot of the horizon.<p>

With the top down as we hurtle down the freeway, the conflict awaiting us seems a world away. Out of the corner of my eye, I see golden smoke billows behind Jade as the wind catches strands of her wig in its grasp. Pounding drums and chainsaw guitars bludgeon our ears as the screams of a lover scorned fill the air. Stealing a glance at Jade, her eyes are focused on the road ahead, her eyebrows drawn tightly above them. Peering down at the tightly coiled fingers, I realize that she's preparing for war.

The jagged form of Hollywood Arts veers into view. My throat constricts and it's as though the very air around us grows heavy. Dragging the steering wheel to the left, I pull into a free space trying to ignore the flash of red that swings past. The music continues to pound, but Jade's no longer nodding her head in time. Between the strands of hair casting a veil over her face, I notice that her eyes have settled on a familiar red truck next to us. Throwing a leg out of the door, I haul myself into an upright position, sensing razor sharp words brewing on her tongue. As Jade sweeps past me, I linger on the spot. These are the last moments of peace I'll have for some time. I'll hang onto them while I can.

Heaving a sigh, I quickly trail the path Jade has forged and try to catch up with her. Words begin to form on my tongue, but as I watch her feet lash out against the floor with every step, the urge to speak abandons me. We blast through the school, towards the Black Box Theatre. It feels like we're moving at the speed of light as the last moments of peace hurtle past. Jade throws the door open and my heart shifts into overdrive and begins to assault my ribcage.

"Hey Robbie…and Jade." Tori's warm greeting withers under the shadow Jade casts beside me. Two sculpted eyebrows draw together as Tori attempts to reconcile the image before her with reality. I analyze our surroundings, my eyes drifting throughout the room in search of a Canadian ghost from Jade's past.

Tori treads carefully towards us, her fingers looming before her body. Jade's lips pull into something vaguely resembling a smile as she watches Tori grope the air around us. Shaking my head at her foolishness, I turn my gaze back to Jade. Usually she'd spitting verbal shrapnel and tearing Tori apart by now. Her silence is unnerving to say the least, like the calm before a storm.

"Something's wrong." My shoulders quake, Cat's sudden appearance catching me off guard. Clearing the shock from my mind, I notice Cat's eyebrows are upturned and concern laces her features. Jade twists towards me for an instant and shakes her head. A look of irritation blows over her features as she regards the growing assembly before us. During the time I was lost in her spell, Andre has joined Tori and Cat in standing before us. He's wearing a similar look of concern as Cat, a worried crease forming on his brow as he notices Jade and I standing together.

"Jade what did you do to Robbie?" Tori's words drag realization with them. My retort catches in my throat as I catch my reflection in the glossy floor beneath us. Even within its hazy surface, the figure of a boy that's been badly composited greets me. I grit my teeth and curse myself for neglecting to lather a further layer of concealer over my cheeks.

"It looks like she ran him over…" Jade's eyebrows sink over her eyes as Andre's shoot towards the sky. I drag my hands through the chaotic mass of fibers making up my hair as a groan rumbles from deep inside of me. Peering between my fingers, I search Andre's features for a sprinkle of irony, hoping in vain that he doesn't actually believe Jade ran me over.

"Why are they standing together then?" While I'm still reeling from Andre's assumption, Tori takes a step towards me, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. Exasperation plagues my features and weighs down my tongue. Turning to Jade, I notice that she's doing her best to dissociate herself from this situation. She's peering down at her thumb and absentmindedly scratching at her nail, seemingly trying to ignore the words swirling around her.

"I have a few theories, but I'm not totally sure where the monkeys fit in." Peeling my eyes away from Jade, I'm dimly aware of Cat's ramblings.

Her words remind me of Andre's grandmother. It's an unpleasant thought that I push from my mind as I peer at Jade. The absence of sharpened words assaulting the people surrounding us is deafening. It's as if the blonde wig and feminine clothes have diluted Jade, draining her true personality away. There were times that I would have moved mountains in exchange for Jade's silence, but right now I can't stand the lack of a verbal assault passing through her lips. My mind slips back to a time when Jade was simply the most terrifying person I'd ever met.

Things were so much more simple back then.

"Monkeys?" I ask, finally dragging my gaze away from the blonde tendrils that seem so alien on Jade's shoulders. Three sets of eyes peer back at me, withering my defiance under the weight of their intensity. A part of me revels in the attention, while another part realizes that I'm just a shard within a puzzle to them. I'm sure they're more interested in the enigma of my appearance then actually putting me back together.

"There are always monkeys." Cat's reply blasts through her lips with total conviction. Even while Tori and Andre's laughter flitters through the air, her expression never falters. With a slight shake of my head, I rummage through the deepest reaches of my mind for something to say. There's got to be a way to turn this conversation toward something else, anything else.

"I'm concerned." Tori announces soberly, as her laughter dies away. Slender fingers find their way to my shoulder with the conclusion of her words. My bones shudder, and I try to wrench myself away from her touch. There's something about her butterfly touch that just seems so unfamiliar, so disconcerting. After a fleeting second, slender fingers tipped with midnight nail polish trap Tori's wrist and wrench it away from me.

"No!" Jade's shriek pierces the air as her eyebrows dig into her nose. There's a possessive streak of green simmering within Jade's eyes as she shoves Tori's arm into the poor girl's chest. I haul my lips into a sympathetic smile before Jade's eyes return to me and send it plummeting to the floor below us.

Rebellion simmers on Tori's lips before the sound of a door swinging open slices through the air. I screw my eyes shut, trying to block out the visage in the doorway. The sound of his feet padding across the ground is the beat of war drums. I drag my eyelids open, coming face to face with an army of one.

Beck Oliver.

"What are you guys talking about?" Beck asks, noticing the way that all of the air seemed to drain from the room with his entry. Jade and I are rooted to the spot, my gaze flying from Jade to Beck and back again. There's unease in the pit of my stomach, like a storm is drawing near.

"Tori thinks Jade ran Robbie over." Andre states, as though it's matter of fact. He's ignoring the tension or something, because he fails to notice the way the air seems to suffocate my every breath. Watching as he sweeps a dreadlock out of his eyes, I envy the way every problem seems to roll off him.

"Uh huh. Er, can we talk Rob?" Beck asks, tentatively stretching his fingers towards me. My eyes narrow instantly and my lips mirror the frown on Jade's face. She glances at me cautiously, like she's afraid to take her eyes off Beck for even a moment.

"No!" Jade shrieks suddenly, erupting as our eyes meet. I recoil and take a step back. I'm mesmerized by the way that her eyes widen and the way that her throat produces that coarse growl. Individually they would be shards of madness, but as a collective they seem to spell out concern.

"Um…I mean, Sikowitz could get here at any moment. I don't want to be around Vega for any longer than I have to be." She adds hastily, covering her tracks as Beck raises an eyebrow and Tori's eyes dart between us.

"Uh, ok…" In spite of myself, I know this has to be done. Whipping my gaze back to Jade, I cast an apologetic look in her direction. Jade's lips tighten into a thin line, her displeasure with my decision more than evident. Reluctantly, I lead Beck towards the hallway. I know I'm walking on a threadbare tightrope above a swirling vortex of chaos.

I just can't help it.

We amble down the hallway, an uncomfortable silence widening the gap between us. Halting at a point that seems to be far enough from the others, I turn and face Beck. He slides his fingers through a river of chocolate locks, refusing to meet my gaze. We linger in the hallway until Beck finally speaks.

"I don't even know where to start. Um…are you ok?" Beck's voice stumbles uncertainly through the air, lacking the usual calm detachment I've come to associate with him. His eyes don't stray from the ground, hovering somewhere between his feet and mine.

"Yeah, just peachy. Apparently nothings broken." Beck flinches as my acidic words sear his skin. Beck's lips twitch, apologies dying in his throat as his fingers twitch uncertainly at his side.

"What do you want?" I shove my hand into my pockets and heave a deep sigh. Beck's shoulders cut tense shadows against the floor, and the silence between us rests heavily in the air. Jade's face haunts my thoughts as I recall the past few days. Resentment bubbles up within me and I realize the barbs coming from my lips aren't just because of the beating he bestowed upon me. I can't stand the way he had everything and just threw it away without a second thought.

"I want…you to hit me." His words slip between us, sending all of my thoughts spiraling into chaos. Beck takes a tentative step forwards, looming before me like a specter of my every doubt. My arms fall over my chest like concrete as his words sink in as I regard him.

"I…what I did was unforgivable. Sorry is just a word. You need…" Beck fumbles for the right words. His voice is low and slinks along the ground, as though he can't stand the sound of it. My eyes narrow and doubt sweeps across my features. I've never seen him this rattled, not even when he broke up with Jade. To say it's bizarre is an understatement.

"An eye for an eye." Recognition flickers within Beck's eyes as verbal shrapnel hurtles between us. Jade comes to a halt at my side, a muscle flickering in her jaw. If the air around us was heavy before, it's turned to lead with her appearance. Beck's heavy eyebrows knit together as he takes note that Jade lingers at my side and not his. The symbolism is not lost on him.

"I guess you could say that." Beck replies, dragging his limps tightly to his chest. His eyes flash between Jade and I, a question lingering on his lips. I find myself looking at Jade; she's glaring at Beck. The icy emerald pools within her eyes have thawed. There's barely contained rage simmering at their surface.

"Fine." I hiss, lurching forward. Gnarling my fingers and forming a loose fist, I peer down at my hand. Not allowing my conscience a chance to paralyze my fist, I hurl it through the air with the intention of placing this unpleasantness in the past. It collides with Beck's jaw and a dull thud reverberates through the hallway.

Pain shoots through my hand like electricity. Curse worlds brew on my tongue as I lament Beck's granite chin. One of his hands lingers over the point of contact, but he's otherwise unaffected. I really wish he wouldn't have asked me to punch him as I try to shake the pain from my hand.

"Nice right hook." Jade comments dryly, the edges of her lips lifting ever so slightly. Reaching out, she wraps her fingers around my fist and strokes it softly. As her fingers flitter over mine and her eyes linger on me, the regret within me ebbs and withers away. My lips part and I want to ask her what she's doing, but my yellow streak runs a mile wide.

"Night right hook." Beck echoes sarcastically. My throat constricts and my heart starts to stutter as I realize the implications of his words. Three words were the first gunshot in a war. Jade's eyes ignite and the rage that had been simmering within them explodes. In an instant, I'm bathed in the golden smoke of Jade's wig as she whirls around and marches toward Beck.

"What was that?" She snarls, the words barely escaping between gritted teeth. I trail Jade's footsteps until emerald eyes fall on me, rooting me in place. I falter as Jade's arms slam over her chest defiantly and Beck's lips part, rebellion brewing on his tongue.

"What was that?" He echoes once again, raising an arm and pointing an accusatory finger in my direction. Beck's are ablaze with a malignant flame, jealousy poisoning his usually calm eyes. I wither as his fiery gaze lingers on me, feeling as though he's once again misplacing his anger towards Jade.

"It was nothing you moron. He was actually worried when he saw me on the side of the road. So bite me if you're angry that I was worried when he injured his hand on your stupid Canadian face." Jade's anger explodes in a nail bomb of words, each syllable a declaration of her discord. Beck's intense gaze flickers, as Jade's words hit him hard. The defiance leaves his face and he screws his arms tightly across his chest. I take a deep breath, realizing I'm not in the midst of war. I'm in the midst of the apocalypse.

"Jade I…didn't mean it that way." Beck's rebellion crumbles into a pathetic smattering of words as Jade's lips curl upwards. I suppose you could call it a smile, but the malice dripping from her lips robs it of that title. He shakes her head back and forth incredulously, heaving a deep breath.

"Just like you didn't mean to let me walk away without a whimper of resistance? Just like you didn't mean to let me walk into the night with nowhere to go? Gee Beck, it seems like there are a lot of things you didn't mean. Did you mean anything?" Jade's eyebrows plunge over her eyes, hatred swirling through her emerald orbs. Her manic breathing drags her shoulders up and down as she takes another step toward Beck. He's pinned against the wall, trying not to let his fear show. I can see his concern in the cracks beginning to appear beneath his facade though. It's written in the way Beck winces between words and in the way his eyes fall to the floor when Jade mentions his name.

"I meant to let you go. We're no good together. Look what happened to Robbie just getting near us. Face it Jade, together we're toxic." Beck's words slip through his lips like razorblades, like they're the last dregs of defiance that he was able to pull together. Jade falters. The sharpened edges of Beck's whispered words leave wounds of their own, ripping through Jade's chest and shattering her heart. Her face collapses and her jaw stutters as she tries to wrap her tongue around a retort.

"You meant to let…me let me…toxic?" The viciousness never quite returns to Jade's voice. Her words come out dulled and fall uselessly to the ground, collapsing into a pile of indistinguishable lamentations between the shards of Jade's heart. The silence within the hallway is an uneasy truce. A break between the bloodshed in a war where there will be no winners.

"You son of a bitch." Jade's words are a declaration of war. In an instant, the truce is broken and Jade's open palm collides with Beck's face. Her nails slice against Beck's face, leaving crimson trails in their wake. Trapped between a razorblade monsoon and the wall, it's as though the fight has abandoned him.

My eyes dart between the two figures before me. Beck lingers in the midst of Jade's fury, guilt rooting his feet to the floor. I realize the squall comprised of Jade's wrath has blown logic to the outer reaches of her mind. Trying to swallow my cowardice, I step towards the swirling blades that are Jade's limbs. Weaving through her wrath, I wrap my arms around her waist and attempt to pry her away from Beck. It's like charging headfirst into a hurricane. I link fingers in front of Jade and an elbow hurtles toward my lips. It slices through the skin and detaches my body from my mind. Before I can brace myself, we're tumbling towards the ground. Golden smoke billows over my vision before it all goes black.

"What happened to your face?" Jade's voice hauls me from the bonds of unconsciousness. As the fog clears from before my eyes, I realize I'm sprawled on the ground in a heap of limbs. Jade's peering down at me, the room spiraling around her head. Though Jade's face remains as stony as ever, I swear there's a spark within her eyes. Stumbling through the labyrinth and rounding the corners within those emerald pools, I wonder how deeply her concern runs.

"Your elbow." I state flatly. Attempting to plaster a sardonic smile to my lips, I grimace as the flesh tears. The crimson dripping down my chin causes the concern within Jade's eyes to flare. It blows through the walls of her emotions and steps. Jade's fingers caress the slashed flesh of my lips and I realize that she's taken the leap from simply tolerating me to something more. As her eyebrows knit together and Beck is all but forgotten, I wonder what exactly her definition of something more could be.

"Uh…sorry." Her voice dribbles uncertainly through her lips, dragging me away from my fantasies with a jolt. The golden strands of her wig tumble over her shoulders, like it's supposed to shade her emotions from discovery. I wonder if anybody other than Beck has seen her this way. So quiet, so small, so far from the unbreakable Jade West that stomps through these very halls.

"See you guys around…" Beck mumbles, pulling my eyes from Jade. He's a solitary figure in the background, just barely registering in our little world. As he turns and retreats in the direction of the Black Box Theatre, Jade's eyes freeze over. My heart jumps against my ribcage as Jade pushes to her feet and closes in on Beck again. Picking myself off the floor, I trail behind her with déjà vu swirling through my mind.

"Not so fast." The softness of her voice from just a moment ago is gone as she addresses Beck. Barbs stick from her every word, piercing through Beck and rooting him to the ground. Her arms fly outward, sending my heart rocketing into my throat before they come to rest on her hips.

"Yes?" He replies, fully on guard. Between the suspicion and his heavy brow, I notice something foreign in his eyes. Something quivering and shying from the light. For the first time since I've known him, I notice fear in Beck Oliver's eyes.

"When we go back in there, you know they're all going to blame me for this mess. I want you to own up to your part in this." A world away from the chaos that had spilled from her mouth moments ago, Jade addresses Beck in an even tone. A shiver runs up my spine and I swear the temperature around us nosedives.

"I…fair enough." Rebellion tingles on Beck's lips before the chill sinks into his bones and he acquiesces to Jade's request. The sound of his footsteps fades into the distance as I turn to Jade. She's breathing heavily, the realization that the carcass of her relationship with Beck lays mutilated somewhere in this hall beginning to sink in.

"You know, I seem to end up getting beaten up a lot around you." I note, stitching a smile to my lips and throwing a joke in her direction. Jade's eyes return to me and I wonder if I've taken a fatal turn within her mind as silence spills into the air.

"You know, I seem to end up irritated a lot around you." She retorts, a smirk finding its way to her lips and dragging me back in the right direction. A simple curve of her lips seems to blow all of the debris and lingering tension in the air away. We're just two friends in a hallway, not two survivors standing in the rubble of a relationship.

"How long do we give him to tell them?" I ask, tossing my eyes in the direction Beck had disappeared through. Jade regards me thoughtfully for a moment, raising her fingers to her chin and stroking it in contemplation. In the distance, I hear the low rumble of Beck's confession filter through an open door. A few moments pass and the faint noise falls silent.

"Give it a gasp and a typical Vega statement like…" Jade fills the silence with her reply before a whimper rings through the halls and she falls silent and simply raises and index finger towards the door. My eyebrows draw together in confusion and I wonder what she's doing. A question forms on my tongue, but before I can say anything the answer comes in the form of a shrill voice filling the air.

"Beck! How could you?" As Jade mouths along with the words, I realize that it's Tori's voice. As Tori's scolding words fly through the halls, Jade's lips curl into a self satisfied smirk. I'm slightly unnerved by the ease she was able to predict that turn of events, but equally as impressed.

"Told you." With those words, a light flickers within Jade's emerald orbs. It's not the same malicious flare as usual; it's shimmering playfully and darting around her iris. I'm lost somewhere in the radiance when I feel her slender fingers encircle my wrist.

Questions form on my lips, but before I can speak Jade's fingers drift into the air. Her forefinger glides across my lips and wipes my thoughts away with the blood. Crimson reminders of the war I was a casualty of stain Jade's finger. She peers at me through her eyelashes and once again I'm transfixed.

"W-hat are…" I barely wrap my words around something coherent before Jade lifts her finger to her lips and sucks it clean. My tongue lays at the bottom of my mouth, her smoldering eyes lingering on me and robbing me of the ability to speak. I swallow nervously, feeling as though Jade's contemplating whether or not to devour me whole.

"I was curious. " She states simply, dragging the finger from her lips and letting it slide over her skin. I can't seem to latch onto anything resembling a coherent thought. Jade's devilish smirk sets fire to all but the most basic instincts, conspiring with the blinding light in her eyes to bring me mind to a grinding halt.

"About w-what?" I finally manage to salvage something resembling a sentence from the ashes of my mind. Jade's lips push forth, her teeth glint and I feel like a gazelle being circled by a lioness.

"I wanted to know what your blood tasted like. I've never had Type O before." Her grin widens and I swear that I can see fangs between her lips. I realize it's not a lioness circling me, not even close. I'm rooted to the spot, alone in a hallway with a vampire. Through the swirling chaos of my mind, there's only one thought that I manage to latch onto. How would it feel to have her lips caress my skin. What's a few bite marks between friends? Wounds heal but memories linger.

"Y-you…how was it?" My reply teeters on my lips before tumbling into our conversation. Jade's feet glide effortlessly across the ground, closing the distance between us once again. I'm still stuck in the blinding luminescence of her eyes. She could tear me limb from limb and I'd die with a smile on her face.

"Can't say that I've had better." She states, rolling her shoulders casually. Wisps of golden light tumble over her face, looking so out of place. She huffs and blows the strands away, lips quirking as she notices the way my jaw is lolling uselessly somewhere near the floor.

"Hurry up. I want to get this stupid rehearsal over with." She mumbles, finally withering under the gaze I can't tear away from her. It's almost a relief that the lilting tone of her previous words is replaced by the usual blunt force trauma of her usual tone. Before I can find a reply, her fingers tighten around my wrist and we're hurtling down the hallway. I can't halt the tremor in my heart as the Black Box Theatre slides before us. I'm just another source of sustenance for a vampire, a shelter for a broken girl. Once somebody better comes along, I'm sure she'll abandon me. That's not what scares me the most though.

What if she doesn't?

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><p><strong>Phew, that probably gave a few of you guys whiplash after the slow moving last few chapters and lack of updates...my bad :)<strong>

**Lets me know what you guys thought, it's always awesome seeing your reviews, comments and whatnot.**


	9. Break A Leg

_**In a romantic fashion  
>I will experiment with my fear right before her eyes<br>And every smile that's unveiled will be soaked  
>in my nervous charm<strong>_

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><p>I don't know about Jade, but when we step though the doorway, I feel like we're stepping into a warzone. The seconds seem to cling to one another, forcing these last few steps to bleed into an eternity. As I push the door aside, Jade's talons are digging into my flesh. It's the first outward display of nervousness from the warrior at my side. Not that you'd know she's worried from the hardened expression on her face. Her sculpted eyebrows rest heavily over her eyes and she looks ready for war.<p>

As we tumble into the Black Box Theatre, I almost expect to choke on the air itself. All of our closest friends hang in the center of the room, surrounding a wild figure. His booming voice fills the air and I don't think I've ever been more relieved to hear Sikowitz in the midst of his scattered ramblings. The wild haired man at the center of the room held all of their tongues in the palm of his hand, sparing Jade and I from their probing questions.

Jade seems to come to the same conclusion as I do. Her grip loosens around my wrist before falling away completely. As Jade's fingers skitter away from my skin, I peer over at her. She's focusing on Sikowitz, a fierce determination to avoid my gaze blazing in her emerald orbs. My eyes scatter around the room, crashing into the sharpened figure of Beck Oliver before long. He's no longer watching Sikowitz and I wonder how much he actually saw. I swallow nervously and try to shift my attention to Sikowitz. Try as I might though, my mind absolutely refuses to focus on anything other than the lingering touches between Jade and I. Between my thoughts and stolen glances at Jade, Sikowitz's words fade into the background. There's a vague echo in the distant corners of my mind.

The hands have spiraled around the clock's face twice now, but it feels like we're all stuck in a solitary moment. Jade and Tori have been trapped in the same scene since rehearsals started. The tension between Jade and Beck seems to have infected the entire cast and I'm almost positive I can hear Sikowitz's blood boiling beside me. His fingers have gnarled into fists and I wonder if he's going to burst into flames at any moment. As Tori delivers her final line for the thousandth time, she drags Jade into a tense embrace, and Sikowitz heaves a deep, displeased grunt.

"That's it, that's it. I can't take anymore." Sikowitz spits through gritted teeth. Before either Tori or Jade can break away from one another, Sikowitz leaps from his seat and stomps toward the stage. A blaze of embers spirals around him as his rage seems to take on a tangible form.

"What?" Jade's words seep through her lips like the biting winds of winter. As her eyebrows cut into the top of her nose, I attempt to swallow the fear within me. My bones rattle around within my skin as the specter of a natural disaster looms over me. Sikowitz steps onto the stage with a practiced calm, his fluid movements belie the carnage that's about to ravage this room.

"Neither of you are convincing. I'm not buying that you're husband and wife. I'm losing my mind here because you're all so awful." Sikowitz takes a slow, deliberate step towards Jade, as though challenging her to question him. His displeasure is evident in the fiery glare that he's leveling upon her. Beside Jade, Tori's shoulders slump as she wilts under Sikowitz's scrutiny.

"Are you seriously trying to blame this on us? We're both girls and we hate each other. What did you think was going to happen, you genius?" Jade's retort hurtles into the air with the viciousness of a hurricane filled with razorblades. Her fingers finally fly away from Tori's shoulders as she trudges towards Sikowitz hurling accusations. At the conclusion of Jade's diatribe, Sikowitz tilts his head slightly and his arms fall like concrete over his chest. Silence hangs heavily in the air, as Sikowitz seems to analyze her every word.

"To a truly great actress, that would not matter. Here…Tori come here, give me your moustache." Sikowitz states, brushing off the deadly winds blowing forth from Jade's lips and extending a palm in Tori's direction. My eyes narrow as I wonder what exactly Sikowitz is doing. Nothing is ever certain in a natural disaster, but I wonder why it's suddenly blown off course and landing on Tori's doorstep.

"Do I have to?" Tori's voice crumbles to the ground as her hands cup the false facial hair resting on her upper lip. Her eyebrows knit together and she looks utterly crushed at the prospect of surrendering her mustache. When Sikowitz's hand wanders too close, a loud crack reverberates through the air as she slaps it away. In spite of the tension that still lingers in the air, laughter breezes through my lips as Tori sidesteps Sikowitz and hurtles towards me.

"Ookay…" Sikowitz mumbles, the flames of his rage seemingly doused by Tori's bizarre behavior. She's draped over a seat behind me, her eyes narrowed in Sikowitz's direction as she cradles her mustache protectively. I'm certain that a cocktail of stress and energy drinks have conspired to liquefy Tori's sense of reason.

"Moving on then… I have an idea." Sikowitz states, casting one last wary eye in Tori's direction before turning towards Jade for a moment. When he turns around again, his eyes fall on me. I swallow apprehensively, memories of Sikowitz's previous ideas flashing before my eyes.

"Robbie you know most of the lines because you had to learn them for lighting cues, correct?" Sikowitz asks, bouncing on his heels. There's a gleam within his eyes that fills me with dread. I feel as though every word that passes his lips is another step towards the gallows.

"Uh, I guess." The words teeter past my lips. As they clatter into the air, Sikowitz's lips pull into a wide grin and I sink further into my seat. Peering past Sikowitz, I notice that Jade is watching our interactions closely, curiosity peeking through the cracks of her outward apathy.

"Good. For today you're playing Walter." Sikowitz states simply. My eyes blow wide open as he motions for me to get on stage. Shaking my head, I grip my seat as though it's enough to make him reconsider. Tossing my gaze around the room, I search desperately for support. Tori avoids my gaze and begins whistling, while Jade and the other cast members on stage simply shrug.

"Why?" The word slithers pathetically through my lips as I throw my palms toward the sky. Sikowitz remains unmoved, simply lifting his omnipresent coconut to his lips and taking a drink.

"Because Jade hates you and you're kind of a girl. Baby steps Robbie, baby steps." His answer doesn't catch me by surprise, but the reaction of the girl looming over his shoulder does. Jade's eyebrows crash over her eyes and her emerald eyes dart towards Sikowitz. It's got to be a mirage, right? Jade can't be annoyed that Sikowitz thinks we hate each other, right?

"Fine." I mumble, mostly because I don't have a strong enough reason to defy Sikowitz. When it comes to casting, he's notoriously stubborn. Dragging my feet along the floor, I amble towards the stage. My eyes flitter around the room. Tori is now occupying my former seat next to Sikowitz. She's still wearing the mustache that had been her character's, and it looks as though she's got no intention of taking it off.

Wasting little time, only a few moments skitter past before Jade and I are running through the final scene once again. I've heard these exact same words so many times today that I'm sure they're actually carved into the side of my brain at this point. Between lines, my eyes stumble upon Sikowitz as I try to gauge his reactions to our acting. The irritation seems to have drained from his face and he's watching us closely.

As I return my gaze to Jade, I notice Beck's fingers tightly gripping his knee. His shoulders cut a tense figure against the wall, as he looks as though this whole experience is causing him physical pain. Swallowing my nerves and forcing my thoughts away from Beck, I refocus on Jade. The final line of the play is coming up and our characters are supposed to hug upon its completion.

"Oh, I love you too Walter." The voice that lilts from Jade's throat is but a shadow of her own. If anything it reminds me of the voice that she uses to mock Tori. I'm wandering through the middle of several thoughts when I feel two arms wrap around me. Remembering that we're supposed to me in love, I gently wrap my arms around Jade's body and pull her towards me.

"Excellent, excellent! You could hardly feel the hate at all..." Sikowitz's enthusiastic applause clatters through the air and wrenches me out of my thoughts. He explodes from his seat once again, looking more than impressed with how the scene between Jade and I went. As he notices that we haven't exactly broken apart, Sikowitz's eyes narrow and questions begin to form on his lips.

"As for the rest of you…Beck. Less anger, more love. These are your parents and they're happy together!" I heave a sigh of relief and step away from Jade, hoping Sikowitz's thoughts will flitter onto another topic and the questions he has for Jade and I will die on his tongue.

"Alright, now this time I want you to do something a little different. Walter, instead of just hugging Nancy, I want you to kiss her. I think it will be a much stronger ending. Now pick it up from Oh, I love you too Walter, blah blah." Having dropped a bombshell on the room, Sikowitz flops into his seat beside Tori. Through the ringing in my ears, I'm dimly aware of the questions that she's peppering him with. Jade's eyes flicker away from me, and she presses her lips into a thin line. I'm almost certain that beneath her placid exterior, a war is being waged within her mind.

"Fine." Jade's voice clatters into the air, and she finally meets my gaze. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I nod silently. I'm afraid of the words that might come spilling out if I speak. Jade twists away from me, dragging herself into position to start the newly amended scene. Heaving a sigh, I dip my fingers into my pockets as trail behind her. Beck hovers at the edge of the stage, and I catch his eye. His thick brow is set heavily and I'm certain that to him, I'm just a traitor.

"Oh, I love you too Walter." Jade states, the words of Sikowitz's play spilling from her lips. I hurl my nerves into the corner of my mind and rearrange my thoughts into those of Walter. Taking a shallow breath, I remind myself that it's Walter and Nancy on stage right now. It's just Nancy's arm snaking around Walter's back and drawing him closer. It's just Walters heart that's fluttering as he looks down at Nancy's sparkling emerald orbs.

The indecision dies on my lips as Jade leans toward me. Time seems to stand still, surrendering in the shadow of our embrace. Sparks dart between us as my lips brush against Jade's. It's only for an instant, but when I break away from her, the room is spinning and I feel as though it's been an eternity. My fingers linger on Jade's hips, like it's the only thing that's holding me upright.

"No, no, no. That's how you kiss your beloved wife? Do it again!" The rumble of Sikowitz's voice wrenches me back into the real world. Taking a shuddering step away from Jade, my gaze skitters over the room. Beck's peering back at me through slits, a venomous look in his eyes. I turn back to Jade, her lips are pursed and her eyes haven't left me. For some reason, that's even more unnerving than Beck's expression.

"Oh, I love you too Walter." She suddenly states, the words stuttering forth without a cue from Sikowitz. My breath hitches as Jade lowers her gaze and peers up at me through her long lashes. Shaking away my unease, I try to separate fiction from reality. Slipping back into character, I extend unsteady fingers into the air and wrap my arms around Jade's waist. My hands pool at the small of her back and I eliminate the space between us, sweeping Jade into a tight embrace.

I dip down and collect Jade's lips, seizing her into a fiery embrace. Fact and fiction collide in the whirlwind of our passion, blurring until they're one and the same. The world around us falls away as Jade's tongue brushes against my lips and sends flames shooting up my spine. This is nothing like when we had kissed at Beck's house. It's not anything like acting and it's not tainted by spite. Jade's the only thing that feels real and I think that might be the most terrifying thing of all.

"I can't do this." I'm vaguely aware of Beck's words as I take a step away from Jade. I don't react immediately, lost in the glow that lingers in the wake of our embrace. Jade's knuckles jabbing my shoulder finally knock my out of my mind and back into the real world. My eyes dart toward where she's pointing, just in time to see Beck slam the door shut in his wake.

"Well it looks like rehearsals are canceled since Tori's acting is more wooden than Rex and Beck has left the room. See you Monday." Sikowitz announces flippantly, waving his fingers through the air and leaving us struggling for words in his wake. Silence lingers between us, and my eyes scatter around the room. Tori's shoulders cut a tense figure against the chair she's still sitting in as Sikowitz's words finally sink in. Andre is hanging back in the shadows, pulling his belongings together and hurling them into his bag. Jade's also gaze is also flittering around the room. Her bottom lip is caught between her teeth and I'm pretty sure her mind is trailing the same path as mine. We have to get out of here. There's always a chance Sikowitz could amble back through that door and decide to punish us with acting drills instead of giving us the weekend off.

Before a farewell can pass through my lips or I can even take a step in the direction of the door, I feel Jade's fingers encircle my wrist again. Words of protest form in my throat, but before they can pass through my lips, I'm being dragged towards the door. We cover the distance between the Black Box Theatre and my car in record time. Jade never once stops to linger, it's as though we're being chased by her regrets and trailed by her past.

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><p><strong>And there's an update for y'all, brought to you in part by my awesome Beta, Agent Taggert. If any of you have seen Victoria Justice's interviews or whatever, you'll probably know why I included that part of this chapter. I hope it made you laugh or something anyway.<strong>

**Leave some reviews and let me know what you thought, it speeds up the writing process more than you might think. :)**


	10. Lost In A Dream

**"You know it's me and where I've been and the million words I'm thinking.**  
><strong>I burned my time today as I start to waste away"<strong>

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><p>Sinking into the casual embrace of my couch feels like heaven after the hell that was today. Jade's barely let a word stray into the air since our kiss. It's as though the passion of it burnt away her ability to speak. The insistent stream of my shower running in the background is the only reminder that I didn't actually arrive home alone. Jade was all gangly limbs and barely contained awkwardness as she rushed toward the bathroom as soon as I unlocked the door. She's been in there ever since, and I'm beginning to wonder if she's ever going to come out.<p>

I'm contemplating leaping into action and launching a rescue attempt when I hear the shower's stream finally ceases. A few moments later, the bathroom door flies open and Jade's midnight curves carve out sharpened lines against the ivory porcelain behind her. A singlet that I recognize from the outer reaches of my closet hangs over her frame. Clinging to her damp skin, it turns breathing into an impossible task. My mind flails pathetically in the wake of her appearance, she's a ride built for sin and I'm searching for a ticket.

"Jade! Did you raid my closet again?" My voice is scratchy from disuse, but the terror that I had expected to color my words never quite arrives. Jade's mouth falls open slightly, like she'd been expecting me to shy away from her. Something about the smile curving my lips forces gaping chasms between her confident façade and tosses her off guard.

"Get used to it." She finally states, before giving a startled blink and a haphazard shrug of her shoulders. Before any further words can jump off my lips, Jade rapidly approaches where I'm sitting and tosses herself down next to me. Twin emerald orbs eye me for a moment, as though she's trying to gauge whether or not I'm a threat. Satisfied that I'm no danger, Jade swings her legs into the air for a moment, before they land on my lap. I feel like a goddamn cushion, but it's far from the worst thing in the world I suppose.

"My neck hurts." The comment hurtles from out of nowhere, catching me off guard. My eyes drift over to Jade. She's spilled across the entire couch by this point, a living oil spill. Her eyes are narrowed slightly, and she's gorgeous. It feels foreign to think that about Jade, but I've always known it to be true, even before she quit wishing death upon my very existence.

"What happened?" I ask, turning towards her and tossing my full attention on her. Her lips are alive with activity, thoughts coming into existence and fading away before a second can even pass. She's always had these hardened edges to her face, ones that threaten to slice you to ribbons if you don't heed their warning. It's not until recently that those cuts have dulled to a slight sting around me.

"Your couch kind of sucks to sleep on." Jade mumbles, before taking a shallow breath and patting her stomach with a nervous kind of energy. I can't help but feel guilty that she's feeling like crap, even though without me she might be homeless right now. My eyebrows drag together as I weigh my options; Jade's emotions are a minefield. I'm one misstep from a total eruption. A few moments drift past us, but they're not nearly as tense as I'd been expecting.

"We could uh…try sharing again?" Jade's eyebrows twitch as my words fumble their way through the air. As her eyes flicker toward the television, I'm not sure whether it's outrage brewing on her face or something more deadly. I set my jaw and swallow heavily; the words that are swirling around the room right now are nothing like the ones that I had envisioned speaking. As she turns back to me, a flash of white accompanies her. There's smile hitched to her lips, one that I can't decipher.

"Good." Jade states simply. The simple word throws me for a loop, my mind filling with conflicting thoughts and emotions as my limbs turn to stone. Jade doesn't wait for my reaction though, turning back to the television once more and losing herself in the flickering images.

"Good?" I mumble, barely noticing as my thoughts trickle into speech. Jade uncrosses her arms and slaps her knees irritably, turning to me with a look of frustration on her face. I feel a lump form in my throat when her eyes lock with mine. I feel as though I'm staring into twin emerald infernos and marching toward a fiery fate with each word that slips through my lips.

"Yes good. I really didn't want to sleep on this stupid couch again. After last night's sleep, I would have just snuck into your room later anyway."

The darkness that I had expected to coat Jade's voice never quite leaves her throat. Her eyebrows are linked over her nose and she's trying her best to look menacing. It's as though she's trying to conjure the girl that I'm familiar with, but can't quite muster it.

"This hotel has really good taste in beds at least. I like your bed." Jade adds, abandoning her attempts at hostility and rolling her shoulders casually with an irritated sigh. Emerald orbs flicker in my direction and the smirk on her lips only widens as she notices the color draining from my cheeks. I shake my head and try to shake loose the troubling thoughts of Jade and I together in a bed from my head. I've got enough difficulties in dealing with her, without that kind of thing clogging up my head.

"Aw, and here I was thinking that I'm special." Digging into the part of my mind that conjured Rex into existence, I hitch a pout to my lips. I'm shooting for sympathetic, but the bruises that still mark my skin conspire with my swelled jaw to form something closer to pathetic. I probably just look as though I fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down.

"Well you're not…kind of." A typically mean spirited reply erupts from Jade's lips and for a brief second, things almost seem to settle into normality. Then she has to go and tack and extra two words onto her reply. My lips stutter feebly and my tongue lies dead in my mouth. It's as though my mind has short circuited. Jade's lips quirk ever so slightly, before her eyes dart back to the flickering image in front of us. I feel nauseous. Not because she's disgusting, or even anything close to it, but because I can't stop my heart from racing.

After that, time seems to slip through my fingers. It's a funny thing, time. Sometimes entire evenings can blow past you, and other times a second seems to hang in the air for an eternity. As the shadows around us grow longer, it feels less and less like Robbie Shapiro and Jade West, and more like two old friends watching television.

A biting comment about a plot hole will spew forth from one of us, laughter fills the air, and then the cycle repeats. It's strange that conversation flows easily between us, but it does and suddenly hours have already passed since we devoured our dinner. Our easy laughter fills the spaces between us, and it's as if the girl sitting next to me is a poorly made copy of the original Jade West. The girl beside me has an easy smile, and her laughter flitters through the air without hesitation.

"This show is terrible. I'm going to bed." Jade announces, slamming her hands against the couch. Amusement colors my features as she pushes to her feet and stomps away from the couch. It's as though Jade's blaming my furnishings for the poor quality of MTV these days.

"Hurry up. I don't want you waking me up later." As I linger on the couch, Jade whirls around. Her eyebrows crash over her nose at the same time her hands fall upon her hips like stone. Rationale thought tumbles just out of reach as I stare at her dumbly. The flickering screen behind her only highlights Jade's deadly curves, and my breath catches in my throat.

"Yes, Princess Jade." I mumble under my breath as she stomps away. Bracing my arm against the couch and hauling myself upright, I wonder what exactly Jade has against the ground. I feel like she's attacking it whenever she's walking somewhere. The thoughts die in my skull as Jade whirls around again, shaking her head from side to side menacingly.

"That's Queen Jade. Mistress Jade if I'm wearing leather. Got it?" She hisses, taking a few steps toward me. I feel Jade's finger jab my chest with each word, as though she's trying to drive the point right through me. My eyes flicker to her finger as it comes in contact with me, wondering why it doesn't hurt. In the past every trace of contact between Jade and I had resulted in pain for me. My body is still trying to haul itself together, so in theory this should hurt so much more. Shaking my head slightly, I try to jar the thoughts loose. I'm seeing things that aren't there. Just because I'm having all of these warm, fuzzy thoughts towards Jade doesn't mean they're reflected.

"Yes Queen Mistress Jade." I deadpan, pressing my luck. Instead of the scowl I had been expecting, Jade's lips stretch into a smirk once more, the surface cracking and revealing something like genuine happiness beneath. The laughter the follows catches us both off guard. The gentle sound flitters around my ears instead of attacking them. It's not like Jade's usual crowing, spiteful laughter. It's a softer, more melodious sound that I could really get used to.

"That's better." She states, blinking rapidly and trying to still her features into an icy surface once more. As Jade turns around and steps through the door to my room, I could swear that there's an extra sway in her hips. Screwing my eyes shut, I stay rooted to the spot and try to steer my mind away from anything involving Jade changing in my room. The moments tick by, as I linger in place, heart thudding within my chest.

"Hurry up!" Jade's voice crawls under the door to my room and wrenches me away from my thoughts. I suck in a few mouthfuls of air, trying to regulate my breathing, but it never settles down as I propel myself towards my room. Pressing forward, I shove the door open, all bluster and no substance. Jade's sitting up in my bed, her back posted against the wall behind her. Midnight strands of Jade's hair cascade over her shoulders, and pool in crook of her collarbone. My heart begins to race as my eyes sweep over her body, and over the strap of the tiny blue bra that's just barely preserving what little modesty Jade has.

"No jeans either." She states, crossing her arms and deepening her cleavage. My fingers tremble as her words sink into my skin and paralyze whatever part of my mind controls speech. As a few moments skip past us, I'm dimly aware of the vicious smirk on Jade's face as she peers over at me. She's definitely getting a kick out of this.

"W-what?" The word clunks into the air gracelessly when I finally force myself into speaking. Jade's eyebrows draw together and her emerald eyes glare at the roof as she huffs in exasperation, like I should just accept her words as gospel. I'd roll my eyes or something, but as her chest fills with air and deflates again in rapid measure, my thoughts are trapped somewhere else.

"I don't like to feel denim when I'm in bed. It makes me itchy" Jade elaborates, narrowing her eyes and shaking her head irritably. My fingers skitter over my jeans, rubbing my thighs nervously as though it's going to magically result in my pants disappearing.

"Turn off the light, take off your pants, get under the sheets." Jade snaps, her voice slicing through the air as her patience withers away totally. With razorbladed words sticking out of my flesh, I nod towards her and snap into action. My hand fumbles across the wall behind me, groping blindly for the switch.

Eventually my fingers find the switch, and I'm able to douse the light within the room. Wincing as my muscles complain, I rip my shirt over my head. I'm thankful that Jade didn't insist on the light staying on. I don't really want her seeing the scars that crisscross my body, both new and old. She doesn't need to see the bruises that stain my torso either. Taking a long drag of oxygen, my fingers slide over my belt and unbuckle it. I can't remember ever feeling more exposed than I do right now.

"Are you ready for camping, or are you just happy to see me?" Jade's teasing voice slithers over my shoulder and into my insecurities as I turn and throw my clothing into a pile beside the door. Even without seeing her, I can imagine twin smoldering emerald embers leering back at me. It's the kind of look that never lingers too far behind comments like that from Jade. I've seen it directed at Beck, Andre and even Tori, but this is a first for me. I linger in place, my hands floating over my crotch uncertainly as moments amble past me.

"I'm kidding Shapiro, I'm not even looking at you. Just move your ass, I'm tired." With Jade's words, I breathe a sigh of relief. As I propel myself towards my bed, I realize that it's too dark for Jade to have even made that observation anyway. Shaking my head slightly, I slide between the covers of my bed and sink into its sweet embrace. After a day spent in the flames of hell, I'm able to fully comprehend just how comfortable this bed is. I sigh in satisfaction and my eyelids slide over my eyes.

"You know, you're not so bad." Jade's comment shoots out of the darkness, yanking me from the fingertips of sleep and into the waking world once more. I slide my eyes open and turn towards Jade. As they begin to adjust to the darkness, I can make out the barest of her details. She's tossed the covers aside mostly, and as her hair spills over her arms, she's laying on her hands and peering up at the roof.

"You're just saying that because you have a cushy hotel bed and a belly full of steak for the second night." I reply, forcing my words through a yawn. I toss my hands into the air, ignoring the groans of my body as I try to stretch myself totally back into consciousness.

"I'm serious jackass. Just don't go around kissing me in front of Beck constantly, and we'll get along great." Jade counters. I notice that Beck's name leaves wounds in its wake. When it stutters away from Jade's lips in this way, it almost sounds poisonous, almost like the way she used to address me. There's something in the rest of her tone though, something that's wholly unfamiliar.

"So it's fine for me to kiss you any other time?" My voice fills the air before my mind has the chance to catch up with it. My eyes blow wide open and I almost feel Rex's swagger seep into my voice as I speak. It's almost like our roles have twisted and he's the puppeteer, pulling my strings from some unknown location.

"Go on then." Jade utters, turning to her side and bracing her head on her palm. Even in this near lightless room, the glint within her eyes is obvious. The swagger leaks out of me, replaced by a feeling of absolutely paralyzing fear. Jade's eyes lock with mine, like she's daring me to do something. I screw my eyes shut as a voice that reminds me of Rex bounces around the back of my head and reminds me of my cowardice. When I open my eyes once again, even Jade's full lips are puckered in a way that suggests she knows I'm not going to do a thing.

"Hah, I knew you were chic-" Her taunts die within her throat as I rush forward and sweep her into a searing embrace. Cupping Jade's cheek, locks of her midnight hair blanket my fingers as I drift away from the real world. Everything seems so far away as I lose myself in her taste, in her touch, in everything that's Jade. Her lips are stiff at first, but the shock melts away as Jade parts her lips and her tongue brushes against my bottom lip. I feel as though my heart is going to explode, that my blood is going to ignite within my veins as Jade's fingers find their way around my neck. Her slender fingers twist through the rough curls of my hair and I'm almost certain that they're the only thing anchoring me to reality.

I'm not sure how far behind time we've falling, but as I pull away I'm panting. Lingering before her, I can fully appreciate how beautiful she is when she isn't scowling. Her dark hair spills over her shoulders and her lips are ever so slightly parted. She's not wearing any of her usual make up, the only trace of her usual facial adornments are the piercings glimmering in the pale moonlight. I run a finger over her cheekbones; Jade's bone structure is perfect. It might be even better than Tori's. She's a work of art. Without the blackened rims around her eyes, those emerald orbs seem to shine even brighter than usual and I almost lose myself in her eyes. Though currently unfocused and lost in thought, they're alive with a shimmering that's brighter than all of the stars in the sky. Well, they were, anyway.

But then the sky comes crashing down.

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><p><strong>It's been a while, huh? I was kind of having some writers block with this fic, but now inspiration is flowing nicely, so I'm back on track. <strong>

**Oh, and t****here's an alternate take on this fic up where Jade's a vampire and not just a wierdo. Check it out if you wanna.**

**Either way, leave some feedback. It's what makes me want to write :)**


	11. Your Heart Is An Empty Room

_**The worst things in life come free to us**_

_**Cos we're just under the upper hand**_

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><p>We break apart and I'm drowning in bliss.<p>

"Shapiro! What the hell are you doing?" After a few stolen seconds of tranquility, Jade roars to life. Her eyebrows shoot downwards and dig into her nose as her eyes blow wide open. Words tingle on my tongue, but before I can speak, Jade's hands slam into my shoulder and send me spiraling off the bed. As the ground flies into my line of sight, I realize that I'm on a collision course with reality.

My body collides with the floorboards, and something like a sickening thud trembles through the air. A broken whimper creeps past my lips as I lay on the ground. I'm nothing more than a tangled pile of limbs. I screw my eyes shut, and confront the grim reality that I'm about to be banished to the couch now. A few moments stutter past before I open my eyes again, peering up at the ceiling. I'm greeted not by the malicious smirk I'd half expected, but by something wholly unexpected. Jade's midnight curls spill over the side of the bed as she peers down at me. Her eyebrows are drawn together and I could swear its concern that I can see carved into her forehead.

"Fuck! I'm sor…I didn't mean for this to happen. I mean…maybe you should eat more often. This kind of thing would stop happening if you weren't such a stick…" Jade's voice creaks and wavers, sentences coming to life and dying on her lips as she tries to convert her thoughts into words. My mind is still struggling to re-engage as two slender porcelain legs swing over the side of the bed. Jade leans down, and extends her fingers towards me. As she bends at the waist, her cleavage deepens and my heart kicks within my chest. Wincing, I link fingers with Jade and allow her to pull me into a sitting position.

"It's ok, don't worry about it." I force the words through my lips as Jade inclines her fingers towards me. Accepting her invitation, I crawl back into bed beside her. Arranging my thoughts into something close to coherence, I realize it was shock and not anger that provoked her to lash out. My gaze slips away from the wall and settles on Jade. She's biting down on her lower lip, and refusing meet my eyes. Peering the swirling veil of ebony hair, I notice something convulsing within Jade's eyes. I realize that it's the long buried emotion of guilt coming to life.

"Seriously, it's fine. My spleen will recover." The words strain on my tongue as pain jolts through me. My mind is already making a mental note to buy a crash mat for the side of my bed, or at the very least some sort of padding. I get the feeling that this kind of thing is just not going to stop happening, no matter how hard Jade tries.

Jade mumbles something under her breath in response, and scoots back to her side of the bed. Watching as she cloaks herself beneath an avalanche of blankets, I heave a sigh. I wonder how many walls she's put in front of her emotions after that slip as I pull my legs toward my chest and push them beneath the sheets. Sinking into my previous position, the cacophony of pain in my bones begins to fade into a dull whisper. The silence in the room spills from one moment to the next, and I'm spiraling toward unconsciousness as I wonder whether Jade's going to speak again. I'm one step from sleep when my ears catch the sound of a sob being choked back and crushed into a vague sniffle.

"Jade, are you ok?" I let the words just barely creep from my lips, trying to sound as casual as possible. Jade's the skittish type when it comes these kinds of things. One wrong step and she'll fly behind the walls she's spent so long building around her emotions. I hear a rustling next to me, and tossing my gaze in that direction, I see Jade peering back at me. Her hands are balled into fists and clenching my comforter, so that it's just beneath her chin. The perfect escape route, should she need it.

"Y-yes." Jade croaks pathetically, trying valiantly to look defiant. As my gaze lingers on her, Jade's eyes dart away from me and it looks as though something has broken within her. There's a lump in my throat and as Jade's eyes begin to mist over, the reassuring words I want to speak get lost on my tongue. Cracks begin to form on Jade's face, but it's not her façade that's crumbling. This is Jade West stripped and exposed. There's no hardened front, and no pretense. She's really falling apart right next to me.

"It's not pushing me off the bed, right? You shouldn't…don't worry about it. Once the fractures in my ribs heal, I'm only a new kidney away from being fine." I'm not even sure what I'm saying. Somewhere between my incoherence, a joke slips into my words. My mind is already scrambling for an apology when a weak laugh rumbles from Jade's throat. It sounds more like a cough, but at least my words haven't widened her wounds any further.

"Not everything is about you, puppet boy." When Jade finally speaks, her voice is small and scratchy, contradicting itself within each breath. One word will come out jagged, and shuddering, the next two will bleed together. I guess that's Jade though; she's never been easy to figure out. I swallow nervously, before extending an arm towards Jade, allowing it to linger before her, in case she wants to take it. I'm caught off guard when she doesn't tear it to pieces. Instead of the massacre I had half expected, I feel Jade's arms wrap around my forearm. When she clings to it, it's as though my arm is the last lifeboat in a desolate ocean. I wonder if I'll ever be able to pry her off. I wonder if I'd ever want to.

"Beck?" I hate myself for speaking the name of Jade's ex boyfriend, but he's the only tangible thing I can link this collapse to. Jade screws her eyes shut and nods slightly. It's a silent acknowledgment of Beck's role in this dilemma, but the shrug that jolts her shoulders only a moment later blurs the situation once again. It's amazing how many memories four letters can evoke. It's amazing how much damage four letters can do. If Friday night was carnage, then this is utter devastation. I don't think I've ever seen Jade like this. Even when I brought her back here on Friday, she was still managing to just hold herself together at the seams. Right now the stitches have come undone utterly, and she's lying beside me, nothing more than an assortment of spare parts.

"Ugh. Can we not talk about him?" Jade groans. Venom drips from the word that replaces Beck's name, and the lingering frustration between them is almost tangible in the night's air.

"Just tell me what's wrong Jade, maybe it'll help." Trying to get information from Jade is like trying to get blood from a stone. As soon as the words push past my lips, Jade's jaw sets. Stern lines cross through her features, and I realize she's preparing to block me out totally.

"I doubt it." She mutters darkly, shoving my hand away and rolling onto her back. I leave my hand where Jade had dropped it. I guess I do it on the off chance that she'll embrace it once again.

"C'mon. Consider it a favor to me?" I swallow my pride and allow a plea to color my tone. It's enough to draw Jade's eyes back to me. A black swill spills over her neck as she shifts again, and rolls onto her side. A long moment passes between us, it's as though I'm being placed under the spotlight within an interrogation room. I can actually feel Jade's eyes boring into me. It's an uncomfortable feeling to say the least, even though I have nothing to hide.

"I saw your body and it made me feel guilty. I'm the reason that you're all busted up and stuff. Then you kissed me, and I threw you off the bed…" Jade's fingers lace through mine as she speaks. It's so strange to see Jade clinging to me like reality will slip away if our hands aren't intertwined.

"Jade, just breathe. I'm sore but I'll heal." My words cause Jade to freeze in the middle of speaking. The air in my lungs is something like lead as I drag in a deep breath. Shuffling forward slightly, sling my other arm over Jade's shoulder and pet her shoulder. She squeezes my hand lightly still unwilling to let go, my lips curve at the edges. She's falling apart and it's because she cares about me.

"Why aren't you angry?" She asks abruptly, peering up at me through those questioning green orbs. The breath catches in my lungs, and I pause to think. It feels like I'm assaulted by the opinions of a thousand different people as Jade's question swirls around my mind.

"I…I guess I just don't regret any of it." Though I shrug, the words catch me off guard. They drift from my mind and flitter through my lips before I really get the chance to analyze them. Jade's grip on my arm loosens and her eyes narrow to slits as my voice drifts into my ears. Suspicion joins the curiosity within her eyes as she regards me cautiously.

"How can you not regret being beaten within an inch of your life by Beck, and having your lip split by me? Seriously Robbie, all I've done is cause you pain. We can't even lie in the same bed without me hurting you. You've always been kind of insane, but this is ridiculous." The words spew forth from Jade once again, like the levy has broken and all of her insecurities are spilling forth. A smile pricks at my lips, as Jade's shoulders rattle beneath my arm.

"I got to know you. I…it just seems like all of that other stuff isn't so bad." My reply catches Jade totally off guard. The suspicion in her eyes seems to seize, and crumble away in the wake of my words. Jade shifts, and it's almost unperceivable, but I could swear she's moving toward me. A tense moment hangs in the air as Jade's eyes fall to my hand, as though she's contemplating her next move. Eventually Jade stirs once again, and her fingers tighten around mine. Though her movements are laced in caution, defiance flickers in her eyes once again. It's as though she's daring me to mention what she's doing. Before another word can pass between us, I feel Jade dragging my arm against her body. My heart kicks within my chest as I feel the silky expanse of Jade's chest press against my upper arm.

"You're…I can't…we're ditching class tomorrow Shapiro." Jade phrases it like a certainty, but it slips through her lips as a question. Twin emerald orbs peer up at me, the hint of a plea lapping at their edges. My eyebrows dip and disapproval carves itself into my features. We can't just go ditching an entire day of class, who knows what kind of information we could miss.

"I don't know Jade…" As much as I hate to disappoint her, we need to go to school. What if Sikowitz decides to cast a new play? Jade's eyes don't harden like I had been expecting, and she doesn't shove my arm away. If anything, the opposite occurs. Jade leans even closer to me, and it's like she's actually afraid. It's unnerving to say the least, Jade West is one of the strongest people I know.

"Shapiro, I know you hate missing class…but p-please?" My eyes widen as the word stumbles painfully from Jade's tongue. It seems to alien to hear it from her mouth. Jade dips her gaze, and shadows spill over her eyes. I suppose it's a good thing too, the rattle in her chest has returned, and I'm certain the defiance within her has flickered and died again.

"Only because you're so cu-" Before I know it, I'm nodding along with Jade's request and uttering words that in all probability would have seen Jade tear my throat out last week. Instead she's positively mild this time. A hand hurtles from the shadows and takes hold of my lips. Jade might be muffling my words, but at least I'm still in possession of my vocal cords.

"Finish that sentence and die." It's a threat, but it's bladeless. The curves at the edges of Jade's lips conspire with the twinkle in her eyes to unravel her attempt at intimidation. She's trying to valiantly to maintain the front that she's so widely known for, but I'm seeing right through it tonight.

"Can I at least have a kiss for ruining my education?" A smile teeters on my lips as Jade's eyebrows drift high above her eyes. I've never been as bold around anybody as I have been around Jade tonight, there must be something in the air. A cough reverberates through Jade's chest, she's not sick. It's something like a nervous reaction I suppose. She slides along the sheets and lingers just inches in front of my lips. The caution has disappeared from Jade's eyes, burnt away by the smoldering look now coming to life within them.

"Sure." The word comes breathlessly from Jade's mouth as she leans towards me. My eyes slide shut and I pucker my lips, awaiting the velvet caress of Jade's lips. What I feel deviates horribly from my fantasies. Jade's finger presses to my lips, and her lips dip down low, catching my hand like a gentleman suitor would in year gone by. I open my eyes and gape at her incredulously as she reels back. Tittering laughter rushes through her lips, and as swirls of black hair fall out of place, Jade is totally forgiven. She's beautiful when she's angry, but when those stern lines leave her face she's breathtaking.

"Well…there you go. Now make yourself useful and warm me, I'm cold." A mischievous sparkle lingers in Jade's eyes as she speaks. I chew the inside of my cheek nervously, as my eyes fly between my awkwardly placed arms and where Jade's body rests next to me. It's silent between us, but even if Jade was speaking I'm not sure I would hear her over my heartbeat.

"I have to do everything myself…" Jade mutters, as I lay paralyzed next to her. Her eyebrows dip low, but her lips curve upward at the edges and disrupt the irritation that she's trying desperately to broadcast in my direction. In a flash, Jade flips over and faces away from me. My eyes blow open as she shuffles backwards and the heat of her body soaks into my skin. Jade's better than any kind of central heating, she's better than any kind of blanket. It's like she was made for me, her curves mold perfectly against me.

"Now wrap your arms around me." Jade instructs. The words drift over her shoulder and impatience soaks every syllable. I finally regain control of my arm, lifting it into the air mechanically. It creaks and seizes up as I drop my hand towards Jade. I feel like a machine that's been starved of oil as my hand hovers above Jade's porcelain skin. Jade's patience wears thin and she tears my hand out of the air, wrapping it around her waist.

"I'm going to let that slide." She murmurs, wiggling her backside against my crotch. I feel my cheeks ignite as I realize that Jade's as aware of the stiffness within my boxers as I am. I drag a ragged breath into my lungs and try to direct my thoughts away from the girl pressed against me. It's a futile exercise though. Inevitably, my thoughts either spiral back to her body or the conversations we've shared over the past few days. I feel like I'm stuck in a never ending loop of confusion with Jade. Her emotions veer out of control from moment to moment and I'm never quite sure where we stand. She shifts against me once again, and one thing becomes clear.

It's going to while before sleep claims me.

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><p><strong>Annnd there you have it. Shout out to my beta, you're still the man bro! Everyone feel free to drop some reviews on if you liked this or not. It's a good way to keep me motivated haha.<strong>

**If you're in the mood for an awesome Rade fic, then go and check out Tell Your Story Walking by circuswheel. It's crazy good and deserves more love than it's getting ;)**


	12. Good Morning Revival

_**And you will never know just how beautiful you are to me,  
>But maybe I'm just in love when you wake me up<strong>_

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><p>The sun streams through the window in a way that makes me wonder how much of our day we've wasted. Jade's still asleep. I can tell from the relaxed nature of her breathing. I wonder if this is the only time she ever allows herself to fully relax. With a slightly smile playing at my lips, I drag my arm from beneath Jade and roll out of bed. Hauling myself upright, I extend my arms into a stretch that pulls me fully into the waking world and begin trudging towards the door. My eyes have a mind of their own and drift back to Jade one final time before I leave. She's splayed out over the entire bed now, and light sounds drift from between her lips as she continues to doze. After yesterday, I should have known something as minor as me getting up wouldn't disturb her in the slightest.<p>

It's almost lunchtime now, and I feel as though I've slaughtered enough time with menial activities. I've cleaned the living room, done our laundry and even watered a couple of long dead plants. Pursing my lips, I step into the kitchen and sift through my fridge for some ingredients as I wonder how I let Jade convince me to ditch class today. Maybe the smell of brunch will finally rouse Jade from her slumber and we can kick start our day.

The entire living area smells like bacon now. I'm cooking it because I remember Jade mentioning her love of bacon in the past. Unfortunately, that fondness for this particular food apparently isn't enough to wake her up. Losing patience, I take hold of a cup of coffee and pull a strip of bacon from an overloaded plate before marching towards my room. Lingering next to my bed, I find Jade still face down and lost in her dreams. The blankets are twisted around Jade's lower back, and only indication that she's still alive is the gentle rise and fall of her back.

I'm not sure how long passes by as I lean down next to her and try to coax her into consciousness with gentle words and the aroma of bacon. Eventually I realize that blunt force might be the only weapon left in my arsenal. Rolling my eyes, I bludgeon the air with Jade's name. The corpse on my bed finally begins to stir, and her hand flitters over to my face. Jade's slender fingers brush over my lips, as if I'm an alarm clock to simply to shut off. I'd be surprised my screeching didn't frighten her, but I'm fairly certain she's used to people waking her this way by now.

"Breakfast in bed? You shouldn't have…" Jade mumbles, her voice getting lost in the pillow covering her face. I shake my head lightly, finding humor in the gentle lilting nature of her voice as she falls into awareness. It's as if the weight of the world hasn't yet landed on her shoulders and she's not fully aware of how stern her voice is supposed to sound.

"I didn't. It's out in the living room, come and get it!" Armed with the knowledge that this Jade isn't capable of leaping up and tearing my throat out, a teasing tone finds it's way into my voice. It's musical even. Jade's low growl rumbles against the pillow and I find my lips curling into a full blown grin. I'd call her cute, but I'm fairly certain Jade would hear the word bounce around in my head. I don't think that even this Jade would let me get away with calling her cute.

"Coffee." I'm about to turn and leave when the mournful wail slips into the air. I learnt yesterday that coffee isn't just a drink to Jade. It's what fuels her. Without that caffeinated beverage, there's no way she's even capable of standing.

"Turn around, sit up and look to your right. There's a cup there." I instruct, wondering if she's even capable of that basic action in this coffee deprived state. Jade's hand drops away from my face in defeat with my reply. Well I assume its defeat, maybe her energy reserves have just run totally dry.

"Not close enough." She moans feebly, just barely stirring. Shaking my head, the smirk on my lips deepens as I walk back into the living room. In spite of her protests, I know that the lure of coffee will eventually win out over Jade's apparently lack of interest in movement.

A few scant seconds amble past me before I heard a faint creak as Jade throws my bedroom door open. I almost choke on my tongue as Jade appears before me. She's still wearing the same bra and panties as last night, and nothing more. My throat goes dry as my eyes scatter away from the dark curls spilling over Jade's shoulders. The blue bra valiantly fighting to contain her breasts just barely qualifies for the term material. My head starts to go dizzy as Jade steps towards me, swinging her hips and carving desire into my mind with her every movement. I can't tear my eyes away from her, as hard as I try.

"Jade…you uh…forgot...you're not…clothes." Not once does my rambling approach anything resembling coherence. The only think that salvages any pride for me is that I somehow manage to keep my eyes focused on her face. As I speak, Jade thrusts her eyebrows high on her forehead as shock sinks into her features. I wonder if she's about to scramble out of the room until she begins to speak.

"Oh what! I did? Oh my lord!" Jade's retort comes in the form of an exaggerated southern drawl. It's the unholy offspring of the voice she's tormented Tori with countless times, and a damsel in distress. The worst part of her mockery is the way Jade writhes around before me. She leans forward slightly and clasps her hands together, creating an even deeper fissure of cleavage between her breasts. I begin to feel lightheaded as she shifts again, arcing her back and placing the back of her hand over her forehead in fabricated distress.

"Oh yeah, I don't care." Her voice veers back into its usual tone, and Jade ceases her contortions as she trudges towards me. As she takes a seat at the table, I'm left to wonder if that performance was just an initial effect of the coffee she'd already finished before joining me out here.

"Should I be cursing you, or thanking you?" I mumble under my breath, inclining my gaze to the heavens. Shrugging off my cosmic lamentations, I peel some bacon away from the pan, and place it on Jade's plate next to some eggs. Lifting the plate into the air with one hand, I amble past the bench and sweep Jade's second coffee into my other hand. She watches with interest as I step over to the table with an ease that belies my total lack of experience with this kind of thing.

"Wow, Robbie. This actually looks edible." Passing through Jade's lips, those words could almost pass for a complement. Pushing my glasses up my nose, I still find my eyes rolling in response. Something malignant wells up in my chest, and I my throat burns with bile. I know Jade didn't mean anything by it, and yet a blackened cloud has settled over my head.

"Thanks." I draw the word out, letting it hang in the air and infect the room with my sarcasm. I'm not sure why the word comes out so scathing, but it scars my lips as it tears through them. Jade's eyebrows crash together in response, a line of concern briefly appearing between them as she takes note of my reaction.

"Seriously, it's good. I really appreciate you making me breakfast. You're the first." The last few words are barely audible, as though they've crept past Jade's lips without her realizing it. Even still, they act as a hurricane and the cloud above my head blows into the distance. Jade's eyes flitter away from me, focusing on the utensils that she's currently massacring her meal with.

"Nobody ever made you breakfast?" My curiosity eventually takes control of my tongue and a question slips into the air. Jade peers up at me with a startled blink. The shock on her face dies in less than a second, but even as her eyebrows sink back into place it's written in the way her back remains rigid.

"My parents hired a maid and one time I found a bag of chips in Beck's bed. That counts, right?" Her voice is annoyingly calm, bereft of the doubts that I know would plague me if those words came out of my mouth. As Jade lifts her fork towards her lips, I peer between the veil of her midnight hair trying to discern her true feelings.

"Not really…" I answer, feeling my brows fall over my eyes in disapproval. As sad as it seems, I guess Jade and I have more in common then she'd ever care to admit. I guess in Hollywood it's easier to end up on the cutting room floor than it is to end your day in the frame of a happy ending.

"So, what are we doing today?" I ask casually, peering over my coffee at Jade as she finishes her meal. We'd eaten in silence mostly, but it wasn't as suffocating as I had been expecting. The quietness just settled over us with what felt like a practiced ease. It's ridiculous to say, but I could swear it almost felt comfortable. With the sound of my voice, Jade brushes a ringlet of hair away from her face and hangs an elbow on the table. She leans forward and rests her head on her hand. It feels like all of the air within my lungs rushes out of me. I'm struggling for breath as Jade's posture reminds me of just how little she's wearing.

"Uh, I'm not sure. This is the first time I've been without Oliver in some time." She answers pursing her lips slightly. I feel like I'm choking, but for once Jade isn't doing it on purpose. Her eyes cloud over and fail to focus on a thing as she loses herself in contemplation. As time ambles past us, I wonder if Jade realizes that this morning she's both called me by my first name, and call Beck by his surname. Somehow I doubt it.

"Well, what would you usually do together to kill a Monday away from school?" I ask hesitantly. Horrifying images of Jade sacrificing children while Beck juggles puppies drift before my eyes before I shake them away. I'm being ridiculous. Jade's not all bladed words and deadly corners, no matter how much she'd like for the world to believe that.

"Uh…" Jade stutters, and her eyes flitter toward her plate nervously. She's eying it with interest, even though it's clear of any food. There's not even a design on the plate for her to pretend she's studying. Jade catches this fact faster than I'd expected, interlacing her fingers and peering down at them instead. I study her curiously. Anything that can halt Jade in her tracks like this definitely has my interest.

"C'mon Jade, just tell me. I mean seriously, we shared a bed last night, I got beaten up by you yesterday, and your ex the day before. It's not like things can get more twisted between us. Please?" Though the urge to beg Jade for most things has long since abandoned me, I stitch a plea to the end of the reply. Maybe it's enough for Jade to feel like she has all of the power. I feel like the the only way I'm going to pry this information out of her is to make Jade feel like she has control of the situation. A few muffled words slip through Jade's lips as she buries her face in her hand, but I can't make them out.

"Sorry, what was that?" I ask, the edges of my lips lifting into a teasing smile at the scent of her apprehension. Jade's eyes shoot up and meet with mine, fire burning at the edges of her emerald irises. I feel like a foolish knight that poked a sleeping dragon one too many times. I'm pretty sure the rest of today is going to a laced with pain for me as a result of my arrogance.

"We'd go to that Porno Theatre in Northridge, okay?" Jade snaps, the edges of her words slicing through me with a vigor that I haven't felt in days. The wounds don't bleed though; the only thing that seeps into the air is my laughter. The image of Beck walking into a place like that flitters past my eyes and its every bit as ridiculous as it sounds. I wonder how Jade talked Beck into doing something like that. It's totally not his scene.

"R-really?" I splutter, struggling against the laughter tickling my throat and the convulsions my lips continue to experience. Jade's eyebrows cut into her nose and her nostrils flair, carving frustration into her face. I bit down on my upper lip to finally stifle the laughter, I get the feeling I'm about to push her too far. Even if she's grown fond of me, I don't think Jade's above retaliating in a way that will make me sad for a long time.

"It's not even like that." She huffs, screwing her arms tightly across her chest and looking more like a put out child than the dragoness I had expected. It's comical to say the least, and laughter threatens to spill from my lips again. My mind begins to double back, wondering if Jade's truly capable retaliating as violently as she used to these days.

"Oh?" I question simply, my eyebrows drifting high on my forehead. It still feels alien to say, but Jade's just the tiniest bit adorable once you've learnt how to dodge the sharpened edges of her responses. There's something endearing about her, but I just can't put my finger on it.

"We went there to throw popcorn at the dirty Northridge perverts and ruin their theatre going experience." Jade speaks and then everything makes so much more sense. It's something that Jade's the type of person to do and it's something that seems slightly more plausible for Beck to go along with. I can just picture her speaking at inappropriate moments or bursting out from behind a chair and scaring some guy half to death after having threatened her way into the theatre itself.

"Fine, lets go then." My eyes blow open as I realize what I've just said. I really need to think before I speak, or at least exercise better control over my tongue in the future. This kind of this has happened way too many times over the past few days. The urge to curse my rebellious tongue all but dies when I look across the table though, and the girl peering back at me holds the smoking gun. The way Jade's eyes lit up was the killing blow. They're sparkling with glee at the prospect of our little day out and my heart bounces around in my chest.

"It's a date!" She states, pushing her chair across the ground and flying out of it. Something like giddiness tingles at the edges of her limbs as she throws herself upright and saunters out of the room. I can't help but feel that this is not the sort of thing that people mean by going to the movies for their first date. My body seizes utterly with that last thought. I linger in my seat as I wonder if Jade had realized the implication of that one four letter word. I linger in my seat for a long while, wondering if Jade is the type to think before she speaks, the type to carefully pluck each word from her mind.

I kind of hope she is. I kind of _really_ hope she is.

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><p><strong>Yeah, I know. You thought this fic was dead. But much like me it has risen from it's grave like a zombie. Leave reviews and stuff, they're like brains to us. :)<strong>


	13. That's Your Call

**Everyone else is trying, everyone else is shining**  
><strong>Everyone deserves the flames but it's such a shame<strong>  
><strong>Such a shame<strong>

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><p>Jade's leaning forward and hanging over the red velvet seats in from of us. Her midnight hair tumbles over her face and she's grinning in a way that's distinctly Jade. Her hand flies through the air and a piece of pop corn slams into the back of some guys head. He's bald, overweight and just the kind of guy you'd expect to find in a place like this.<p>

"Shapiro, what are you doing?" She asks, turning her head towards me and momentarily abandoning her attack on the last remaining patron in this theatre. Jade's kohl rimmed eyes are narrowed and she's sizing me up again, just like she does every time I surprise her.

"Uh, watching the movie?" I answer uncertainly, peering up at the screen for the first time since the plumber offered to clean Mrs. Johnson's pipes. The carnal display stains my eyes and I cringe. When I turn back to Jade, her eyebrows are upturned and suspicion is carved into her features.

"No you're not. Beck watched the movie, Beck enjoyed the movie. You're doing something else. What are you doing exactly?" She states, narrowing her eyes into slits and shaking her head as she leans towards me. My heart clenches in my chest and words fail me. Nothing seems like the right response to her line of questioning.

"I…you have to promise not to kill me." I splutter after several moments of intense scrutiny from Jade. She clicks her tongue and arcs an eyebrow as my words swirl around in her head. After what feels like an eternity, Jade nods her head and implores me to continue.

"I guess watching you torture that guy in front of us is more entertaining then what's on the screen." I blurt out, hoping that Jade considers a nod to be a legally binding agreement and I'm not about to die in the shadiest part of town.

"So what, you don't think she's hot?" Jade asks incredulously, as her eye returned to that narrowed state. She screws her arms tightly over her chest and the band of rags that used to be one of my shirts strains against her chest. I swallow and roll my shoulders against the air.

"Yeah sure, if you like blondes. I'm m-more of a brunette guy myself." I state, trying to sound more like a suave playboy and less like a boy sitting in a stained seat with a jumpy heart. Jade's eyebrows rise high onto her forehead and her lips push into something that's kind of like a smile. It's almost the equivalent of a normal person beaming, really.

"Good answer Shapiro, maybe there is hope for you." Jade states, her lips curving in to smile that makes me think she knows something I don't. As she turns back to her victim and begins to toss popcorn at him again, I simply sit frozen in place. What on earth could she have meant. Hope in a social sense, or hope in a sense that she could possibly consider dating me?

As Jade continues her assault, I sit in place with my brows furrowed. She's a riddle that I don't think I'll ever solve.

"Whimp!" Jade shrieks, flying out of her chair. Blinking with a start, I follow her line of vision and notice a stout figure scuttling out of the theatre. I guess that last guy finally got tired of being pelted with pop corn.

"Well, I guess that's the end of your fun, huh?" I ask, standing up next to Jade and throwing an arm loosely over her shoulder. Jade doesn't tense up either. I can feel her bones, I can feel her skin, I can feel her melting against me. It's almost intoxicating.

"Not entirely." Jade states, turning away from the space her last target had occupied. Her tone is low, but it's not the same bland voice she addresses everybody else with. There's something else written in her words. I just can't quite figure out what it is.

I'm still processing the hidden meaning from her reply when Jade whirls around and we're face to face. I catch sight of her eyes, and deep within those emerald pools, there's a gleam. But just when I think I've figured out what it is, Jade grabs me by the collar and drags me forward. Our lips collide, and she's like velvet. It's confirmation of what the gleam in her eyes a few moments ago was.

Predatory.

"W-what was that?" I squeak when Jade finally releases me from her grasp. We've kissed before, but never like this. As I struggling to regain my breath, Jade's impassive as ever. Her lips are just a touch swollen, and there's slight curve at the edge of her lips. But other then that, there's no sign that anything has even occurred between us.

"Payback." Jade answers with a smirk. She doesn't elaborate, simply offering a small smirk and entwining my gangly fingers through her perfect ones. Jade's grip is vice-like, but that's irrelevant. I'd still be following her out of the theatre regardless.

"We're leaving." Jade explains, even though we're already hurtling through the lobby. I can't help but notice that she hasn't let go of my hand as we slip into the street. I don't dare to peer in the direction of our clasped hands though. If this is a dream, I'm not ready to feel the cold embrace of reality just yet. I do however allow myself to steal a brief glance at Jade's profile. She's staring straight ahead, just as I'm pretending to do.

"A-are you…are we dating?" The words tumble through my lips before I have a chance to filter them. My legs almost give out beneath me, and I stumble slightly as I realize what a massive mistake I've made. Jade is surely one flicker of the wrist away from eviscerating me. Jade continues walking for another three or four steps until my words sink in. When she comes to a grinding halt, I know my fate is sealed.

"Uh…No. We're uh, friends that sleep…uh, in the same bed." Jade answers, actually stumbling over her words for once. It's one of the few times that I've seen Jade looking anything less than totally composed. A crimson flush actually spills across her porcelain skin, and I feel my jumpy heart actually calm down.

"Then why are you holding my hand?" I retort, lifting our clasped hands slightly for emphasis. A crooked smile finds it's way onto my lips. For once I don't feel like a gazelle being circled by a lioness when I'm in Jade's presence. I could get used to this.

"I'm not." With this two simple words, we're tossed into the real world. I place where Jade's casual steps skitter across the ground, and I'm just fighting to keep up with her. We're off and running again, and whatever confidence I had mustered up lies in a heap several feet behind us.

"Jade…" I squeak for the thirtieth time. Jade's valiantly been glaring at the sidewalk in front of her for the past three blocks. I guess in this instance, the thirtieth time is the charm. Jade grinds to a halt and finally meets my gaze. Her emerald orbs burn through me, and the words get caught on my tongue.

I'm just a gazelle again.

"You're still holding my hand." I wheeze, eventually dragging a sound that's three octaves higher than my own from my throat. My fingers twitch involuntarily, and Jade peers down at them. Instead of tearing away from my grip, her lips push into a smirk. It only lingers on her lips for an instant, but that's kind of what makes it special. It's something only I managed to catch a glimpse of.

"You're imagining things." She announces, shaking her head and taking a step forward. I heave a sigh and forget about even trying to figure Jade out. Everything about her is puzzling. From the moves she makes, to the words she speaks. I wonder if that's why her and Beck never worked out. He never struck me as the kind to be particularly adept at following clues.

Just call me Sherlock Holmes.

School comes way too early on Tuesday morning. My head's pounding and I'm not even sure which way is up. Jade lays beside me, still wrapped up in her dreams. The task of rousing her from her slumber doesn't appeal to me in the slightest, to be honest. Grimacing as I sit up, I reach for my neck. Must have slept on it funny.

I limp into the kitchen, feeling as though I've lost a war.

When Jade hurls the door to our room open, I'm still standing behind the counter. She looks just like I feel. Her midnight locks blanket her face, and I wonder if she can even see through their tangled veil. Coughing, I turn away before my gaze wanders lower. I know she's only wearing the tattered remains of one of my shirts and her panties. Being caught perving on her this early in the morning would surely result in a decapitation of some sort.

"Coffee." She moans, sounding like a member of the undead. Smirking, I point in the direction of a table beside Jade. There's a mug sitting on it, awaiting her arrival. Jade's full lips part, and her jaw hangs limply for a moment before she realizes what I'm pointing at. I don't think she's ever going to be a morning person.

By the time we're sitting in my car, Jade's been revived. More than revived to be honest. Her hair hangs in loose curls, framing her porcelain features. A deep shade of red stains her lips today, and I wonder if I'll be lucky enough to kiss them today as I pull onto the freeway. For once Jade's wearing one of her own blouses. It's no less revealing than my mutilated garments had been though. I feel a lump form in my throat as Jade leans over and adjusts the radio during a red light. She's intoxicating.

As the final effects of sleep fall away, I find myself grinning at nothing in particular. Not even the usually daunting silhouette of Hollywood Arts can force the happiness from my features. Jade's nervous, I can tell. She's been changing the song approximately every two minutes, even when I know it's one she likes. When a familiar figure veers into view, the air suddenly thickens my malice. The sun suddenly doesn't seem to hang so high above us, and the source of Jade's trepidation becomes more than obvious.

It's Beck.

He's standing beside the park he knows I swerve into almost every morning. Screwing my eyes shut for an instant, I steel myself for confrontation. If I have to fight another war for Jade, I'll do it. The pain of a punch is nothing compared to the sting of loneliness. Eying Beck warily, I drag myself into the open air with a slight wince.

"D-do you need any help?" Beck squeaks in a voice that doesn't belong in his mouth. I toss my head back and forth, before sharing a look with Jade. Her eyes are blown wide open and I realize not even she's seen Beck like this.

"Oh, ok." He mumbles, looking defeated. The moment between us all hangs in the air for too long, turning stale before Beck turns around and drags something out of the bushes.

"You have got to be kidding me…" Jade groans, rolling her eyes severely at the sight of what Beck is holding.

"I got you this." He mumbles, shoving a massive box in my direction. It's been splashed with white paint, and Beck has taken the time to draw out a very extensive list of the reasons he's sorry. Turning to Jade again, she only huffs and glares at the sky, muttering under her breath about something. When I pull the lid from Beck's box, I'm greeted by the sight of several new Pear Box games, a hair straightener and two concert tickets.

"This an apology box. Beck gives them out when he's been to his therapist and she tells him he's wrong about something." Jade explains, draping herself over my car. Her eyes are half lidded, and the flat tone of her voice makes me think she's given this explanation more than a few times.

"Yeah, Maggie told me that I have problems letting go, so what I'm supposed to do is write down why I was wrong and place all of my hurt feelings into a box. Then when I give it away…uh, yeah." He elaborates in somewhat stunted fashion. The revelation that Beck has a therapist reverberates through me, and I'm paralyzed. The only thing I can do is nod dumbly.

"I still think it's stupid." Jade states offhandedly, waving a hand in Beck's direction. His features tighten, and something flashes through his eyes for a moment. It's not until he takes a deep breath that my old friend comes out of hiding.

"I'm just…I'm really sorry for being…" Beck begins, only to have his words sliced in two by Jade as she dips between us.

"For being wonky? For being an ass?" She hisses. I feel my throat constrict as I imagine the cold look in her eyes right now. Beck's eyes remain impassive this time, and instead of the anger I'd been expecting, he only nods.

"Yeah, I'm sorry for being a wonky ass." He states in a low tone. Jealousy bubbles in the pit of my stomach as I watch them interact. Negative as it is, they danced through this tangled web before. As I place his apology box on the hood of my car, I realize Beck probably knows Jade better than I ever will.

"Whatever. It's on Shapiro if he wants to accept your stupid box." The sound Jade's voice loosens the grip those depressing thoughts have on my mind. The feeling on her fingers sliding through mine tears them away completely.

"I uh, yeah. Yeah, let's be friends again." I state, stumbling through my reply. I'm not totally confident in my answer until I steal a glance at Jade and catch the flicker of her lips.

I extend my hand, knowing Beck will recognize the gesture as one of reconciliation. Just as he's stepping towards me, a shriek rips through the air and a wave of chestnut hair envelops me, tearing me away from Jade's hand. I find myself struggling for breath as two arms wrap around my neck. A slender figure is clinging to me and almost enveloping me totally. It's like somebody has tossed a Tori blanket over me. A Tori blanket that is currently wailing that friends shouldn't fight.

"Uh, Tori what are you doing?" I whisper into her hair. I can feel the heat of Jade's glare on us, and I hope for Tori's sake she climbs off me soon. I don't know how much longer she's going to be safe for.

"I'm protecting you. Beck would never hit a girl!" She squawks into my ear, almost deafening me in the process. Beside us, I hear a huff and I realize that Jade's patience is wearing thin. Beck would never hit a girl, but Jade would definitely hit a Vega.

"Vega, clearly you weren't paying attention the first time…" She growls, taking a dangerous step toward Tori and I. Between strands of brown hair that are spilling all over me, I can see malice written into Jade's features. The lightness that had been in her eyes at different points yesterday has been crushed by anger.

"Paying…what?" The girl clinging to me mutters, sounding puzzled. Her sculpted eyebrows collect in the middle of his forehead and I wonder how long it will take her to pick up the implication behind Jade's words.

Too long apparently.

"Why you rubbing up on my boyfriend?" Jade roars, sending Tori scuttling away from me. I don't think I've ever seen Tori move as fast as she has this morning. Briefly, I wonder if Jade would consider taking up athletics coaching. The sound of Tori whimpering behind me perishes that thought.

"Come on, we're going." Jade hisses, reaching out and yanking me towards the main campus. My limbs are gangly, barely responding when I try to follow with a modicum of grace. I think Jade calling me her boyfriend has caused some kind of major failure in my central nervous system.

"What about his apology box!" Beck shouts, a tinge of desperation coloring his words. Abruptly, Jade comes to a halt and spins around. In the wake of her murderous gaze, Tori yelps and ducks behind my car.

"Could you bring it with you? Thanks Beckett." Jade's words leave her mouth as a question, but arrive at Beck's ears as an order. He nods simply, thick eyebrows furrowed and eyes narrowed slightly. I think he's realized what Jade called me. I hope he's not reconsidering the apology box. With all my talk of going to war, I'd rather not get drafted and just play video games.

"Well that went better than I expected." Jade muses, her tone sounding as light as a cloud all of a sudden. My jaw hangs slack and my tongue lolls uselessly in the bottom of my mouth. I almost feel like Jade's mood shift has given me whiplash.

"Wh-what?" I stutter, tripping over my feet slightly.

"You heard me, wonky ass." Jade counters dryly, looking like an entirely different person to a few moments ago. If we hadn't been holding hands the whole time, I'd swear somebody had replaced the real Jade with a more mellow imposter.

"My ass isn't wonky." I grumble, focusing on the sea of people around us. Anything to avoid the look Jade is giving me. Sure, it's nice to see her smile most of the time. Just not right now, not this particular smile. I recognize it as the smile which precedes a biting remark.

"Yep. Yep it is." Jade states, leaning backwards slightly as though she's verifying the information.

"So you think it's ugly?" I shriek, mimicking the tone I've head Jade use a million times before. Her eyes blow wide open and I think for second that she's about to ruin me socially. It's not until a stray thread of laughter slips through her lips that I realize she's amused by my impression.

"It's not, not, not ugly." Jade retorts, deliberately being obtuse. It takes me a moment to realize that she's giving me an incredibly discrete compliment. We amble through the halls, loosely attached by our fingers and I realize things aren't always going to be straight forward between us.

That's Jade though. A constant struggle, a constant presence in my heart.

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><p><strong>I'm not really sure where i'm going with this fic at the moment, I'm thinking I will set it ride off into the sunset now. Unless you guys want too see more things go down? Either way, leave reviews and stuff because they're awesome. ;)<strong>


	14. I Do & She Don't

"_**The road outside my house is paved with good intentions**__**  
><strong>__**Hired a construction crew, 'cause it's hell on the engine"**_

* * *

><p>Blowing through the doors to Hollywood Arts, I grin against the grain of Jade's scowl. For something that was supposed to be so hard, coming to school with Jade has been easier than I ever thought it would be. Even when questioning glances multiply and mutate into lingering looks, my enthusiasm doesn't wane.<p>

Nobody ever really liked me before, barring my small circle of friends. If the faceless masses of Hollywood Arts want to question the best thing that's probably ever happened to me, I couldn't care less.

"You called me your boyfriend." I coo, practically floating through the hall with Jade at my side. I'm expecting a laugh, a jab in the ribs, anything. When I flick my gaze to Jade, what little color had been on her cheeks has drained away. Jade fidgets, and then she's ripping her hand away from me. When Jade's eyebrows crash over her eyes and she tenses up, I tumble back to earth.

"No, Robbie. I didn't." Jade hisses, shaking her head and jabbing her index finger into my chest for emphasis. I shrink backwards, trying to fight the frown from my lips. Jade's voice clatters to a halt, and I shake my head adamantly. I'm silent for a long painful moment, trying to will the right words to my lips. It's awkward, and Jade scuffs the ground, seemingly waiting for me to speak. She's staying at least, I think that's that's a good sign.

"You did too…I mean, I heard it…you're freaking-what's wrong?" I spew forth a tangled web of words that just barely clatter forth in the form of a sentence. Jade presses her mouth into a thin unhappy line and drags a rattling breath through her lips. When her eyes sweep over me, I wonder which gears are turning inside of Jade's head. Her irises have blown wide open, and deep within their inky depths, I can see the girl from yesterday being hauled away in chains.

"Shapiro, just leave it." She sighs, scuffing the ground with her heavy boots and glaring at the ground. Her raven hair is dangling over Jade's eyes, and I can't help but feel that there's a battle raging inside of her head.

"Jade, what's the problem?" I ask, taking a step towards her and hanging an arm over her shoulder. It's enough to drag Jade's gaze away from the ground, but she doesn't smile. In fact, when her eyes drop to my fingers, her frown only deepens. Jade's hands are hanging limply at her side, but it feels like they're strangling the life from me with every passing silent second. Jade glances at me, and then at a couple walking past us. Screwing her eyes shut, Jade's nose crinkles as she grimaces. If my heart wasn't tearing at the seems, I'd even remark on how beautiful that crease in her skin is.

"Look. Believe it or not, I like you Shapiro. I just don't want to date you, okay?" Jade's tone wavers, and it's like the words coming from her mouth aren't exactly the ones she'd picked out in her mind. Then again, maybe they are. I don't know. The seams in my heart have come undone, and there's too much chaos in my chest to really stop and inspect the subtleties in Jade's statement.

"Don't look so down, we're having fun aren't we?" Jade's lips flinch, as she tries to conjure a smile forth. It flickers away and dies as I narrow my eyes in her direction. The pain inside of my chest has begun to fester, and the bitterness emanating from my heart's rotting carcass has begun to infect my thoughts.

"I gotta go, Jade." I state lifelessly, shifting my bag to my other shoulder and spinning decisively on my heel. As I march away, I'm not entirely sure what I'm in search of. I really just want to get away from Jade before hateful things that I won't be able to take back spill over my lips.

"Shap…fine, leave." Jade's voice curls around my shoulders and I almost turn back. Clenching my jaw, I force myself to keep walking. I shoulder through the crowded halls, and for once I'm not the one ducking against the wall to avoid people. It doesn't really matter though. It's a dubious achievement at best to be the raging bull people are avoiding.

When the bell for class screeches to life like an air raid siren, my breath is still coming to me in choppy waves. Staring blankly at the door in front of me, I realize that by some miracle fluke, I'm lingering in the right place for my Advanced Production class. Palming the door open, I lumber forth and trudge in the direction of my usual seat. Tumbling onto the hard plastic, my heart give a tight squeeze when I catch sight of a raven hair girl three seats in front of me. I know it's not Jade because she passed this class last semester, but it's still a painful reminder of my failings.

Students begin to filter through the rows, familiar faces filling their usual seats. Several of them cast fleeting glances in my direction, so I drop my arms onto the desk into front of me. Maybe if I bury my nose far enough into the crook of my elbow, I can chase away the ache that's settled so deeply into my chest. I'm not sure how long it is before I feel somebodies finger jabbing my arm.

"Hey there, Mr. Relationship Guy." Tori chirps, flopping onto the seat beside me. Her sunny disposition is utterly at odds with the storm of emotions raging inside of me. Even still, when Tori's eyebrows arc and begin to flail above her eyes, a smile fights its way onto my lips for a moment.

"Actually, it's Mr. We're Just Having Fun Guy." The words burst out before I know what I'm doing, and the levity in the air goes down in flames. Tori's dancing eyebrow crumble to a halt, and she blinks with a start. Seeing the concern working it's way onto her face, I try and arc my lips into a smile.

That doesn't go so well.

"What'd Jade do?" Tori squawks, all of a sudden. Judging by the way her eyes are narrowing, I can tell Tori thinks my smile isn't up to scratch. This semester, in a class where it's only the two of us surrounded by shruggers, we've bonded just a little bit. The tutor thunders past us, late us usual, but Tori's eyes remain fixed on me. Gnawing at the inside of my lip, I realize that today is going to be one of those days where Tori relentlessly burrows to the root of my problem.

"Nothing, nothing." I splutter, each syllable more unconvincing than the last. Tori's frowning still, and a tell tale crease appears between her eyebrows. It's the same expression she wears every time I try to evade her questions.

"Clearly it was more than nothing." She hisses, leaning towards me. Her chestnut hair spills over her shoulders, just as it usually does during this same song and dance. Tapping my fingers on the desk, I realize that she's already learnt the steps over the course of the semester. I'm cornered, too. It's only a matter of time before I'm spilling my guts out to Tori like usual.

"Okay class, I'm going to need absolute silence for this demonstration…" When Mr Robinson's lilting voice cuts between us, I almost want to tent my hands and give thanks to the universe. On a day like today, I'm grateful for the small mercies. Jabbing my index finger in Mr. Robinson's direction, I ignore the look on Tori's face. It scatters between irritation and concern, before she twists her lips and turns to the front of the classroom.

Mr. Robinson drags us all into the Black Box Theatre and demonstrates how to use a dolly for tracking shots. The information soaks into my mind almost immediately, so I spend the last twenty minutes stewing over Jade and plotting my escape from Tori. After what feels like an eternity trapped in purgatory, the bell finally rattles to life. It's still jangling when I dart towards the exit. I'm only step away from freedom when a strong hand reaches out and I grind to a halt.

"Now, now Robbie. I know you're top of the class this semester, but hold your horses for a few more minutes." Mr Robinson drawls, shaking his head amid greasy tresses of amber hair.

"Hold your horses, nyah, nyah, nyah." I growl lifting my pitch to match Mr Robinson's voice. From beside me, an ungraceful snort erupts from Tori.

Blinking with a start, my eyes scatter away from Mr Robinson and towards the carnage beside me. From the looks of it, Tori had been taking a sip of water at the moment my mocking tone had hit the air. When I turn to her, she's cradling her water bottle, while sheepishly wiping water from her chin. My mood lifts out of the doldrums it's been trapped in for the past hour, and a smirk drags my lips upwards. Yelping indignantly, Tori's slender fingers batter my shoulder with all of the force of an unruly kitten. With a lopsided smile on my face, I'm sarcastically rubbing my injured arm when the sound of a throat being cleared cuts between us.

"Alright! That's quite enough, Mr. Shapiro, Miss Vega. Since you're both much too busy to listen, the two of you will be paired up for this assignment. You'll also be handling the cinematography for the most demanding, particular, and downright difficult to work with director at Hollywood Arts…" As Mr Robinson's rant spirals towards a point, I swallow nervously, realizing how horrible the conclusion is going to be.

"Uh oh…" I squeak, ripping Tori's eyes from Mr Robinson for an instant. In an instant, she tumbles onto the same realization that I have, and I watch on as Tori's eyebrows make a break for the top of her head.

"Jade West." Tori yelps, like Jade's name has caused her physical pain. I just rake my hands through my hair and try not to think about it. Wordlessly, I yank a script from Mr Robinson's outstretched hand and stalk back in the direction of my bag. Gnarling my fingers around it, I lug it over my shoulder and finally break through the door that's been calling me for so long.

The satisfaction of solitude only lingers for a moment before Tori's diving after me. As she falls into step beside me, I realize things are only going to get worse before they get better. Planning a project of this magnitude means long nights slaving over a planning book with Tori, and even longer days trying to make Jade agree with our vision.

"Oh, this is bad." I mumble burying my head in my hands.

"Come on, it's not that bad." Tori retorts, lips curling as she takes offense to the implications of my words. Knowing what's about to come, I want to try and infuse at least a modicum of positivity into our conversation. When I open my lips, nothing but negativity pours out.

"No, trust me this is really, really, really, rea-" When I feel fingernails ding into my shoulder, I almost jump out of my skin.

"Oh hey. Not interrupting anything, am I?" Jade's words slice through the air, menace trailing in their wake. Whatever sense of purpose that had laced my movements leaks away when our eyes meet. Jade's eyes are clouded, and the way her jaw is set reminds me of the person she was before this weekend. When she retracts her fingers, Jade keeps her arms tucked tightly against her body as we begin to move again. I realize that I'm not the only one that's been wounded by this morning. Jade's defences are just a lot more powerful than mine.

"Well Robbie was just about to say really for the 36th time. So-" Tori's innocent attempt at lightening the mood dies on her lips her Jade's glare drifts away from me.

"Wasn't talking to you Vega." Jade hisses, through her clenched jaw. When her angry gaze resettles on me, my lips have curled in disdain. The sound of her voice, so sweet only hour ago, has soured.

"Oh, you were talking to me?" I sneer, and it hits Jade hard. Her hardened front falters, and her eyes flicker away from me for a moment. I'm dimly aware of Tori edging away from us, and honestly I don't blame her. I'm toxic right now.

"Uh, yeah…" Jade admits, smoothing out an imaginary crease in her jeans. My throat tightens when I catch sight of the real Jade. She flashes before me for an instant when Jade's arm flickers towards me. But then she's retracting it again as doubts cloud her judgement, the extended limb never even coming near me.

"We're just having a good time. You like a good time, don't you Jade?" I ask, hurling her words from this morning right back at her. Venom stains my lips, and I hate the taste, but a broken heart has a way of poisoning somebody's words and clouding their thoughts. From moment to moment, I can't decide whether I hate Jade or if the inverse is true.

"Not with Vega." Jade's words rip through me as her defences engage for round two. She's used this tone on me before, but not for a few days. I don't remember it hurting so much.

"Oh, that's too bad. We're going to be having a whole mess of good times working on the cinematography for your film this semester. All three of us, it's going to be a riot." I inform her, dragging up harsh laughter. It tastes like bile, and I wind up hating myself more than Jade when I finally shut up.

"Oh." Jade states, eyes flicking to the ground. I wish she'd have barked it out like usual. When she's so close to being silent, she sounds too broken. I'm the one that's meant to be the one getting crushed under her foot. It's not supposed to be this way.

"Well, you know what Shapiro, I've got things to do. I gotta…go. I'll see you at your car after school…" Jade shoulders past me, but it's the last slither of resistance she'd had left. Watching as Jade disappears up the hallway, her shoulders hang limply, and she cuts a solitary figure. A painful lump carves its way up my throat and I do the only thing that I can. I turn to Tori and force my lips upright.

"Robbie, what was that?" Tori asks, nose crinkling as she lashes out and shoves me. Her eyebrows have carved concern into her features, and I realize she's not truly angry, just frustrated. I know the feeling.

"Hell." I remark simply.

* * *

><p><strong>Just when I thought this story was dying, ideas started coming at me left and right. Sorry everything had to go to hell for them to happen. <strong>

**Review and stuff, that's what motivated me to start on this new story arc :)**


	15. Picture Perfect, Pathetic

"_**Seems somebody put out the moon**_

_**Now the road is a minefield**_

_**I can't follow the way she moves**_

_**I can't see past the shadows"**_

* * *

><p>After she disappears, I don't see Jade for the rest of the school day. All around me, the Quad is brimming with life and laughter while I stew in my regret. Tori and Cat pull me into conversation a few times, but for the most part I'm left to my own devices. I drift through the rest of my classes, muffling my thoughts and the ache in my chest with algebra. I've worked my way three chapters deep into a textbook by the time the final bell of the day skitters through my ears.<p>

I climb out of my seat and heave my bag onto my shoulder. Peering out of the window, I can see the student car park. Somewhere in the distance, I know that Jade's waiting for me. Shouldering the door open, I trudge through the halls and towards my fate. The anger within me has subsided, and all that I'm left with is the regret pooling in my stomach.

"What crawled up your ass before?" Jade asks, catching sight of me before I see her. Skidding to a halt, peer over at her doubtfully. Jade's posted against my car, and beneath her veneer of disinterest I can see curiosity bubbling. She's tactless, but she cares. It's kind of overwhelming, to be honest. I'm not used to people other than Tori actually asking me about my problems.

"Nothing, just…nothing." I hate being so evasive, but we've stumbled into unfamiliar territory. Stifling the mutinous words on my lips is the only thing that feels familiar. Jade holds my gaze for a moment before pushing off my car and sauntering over to me.

"Liar." Jade growls, leaning forwards and peering at me through narrowed eyes. I'm still paralyzed by the cool caress of her breath on my face when Jade turns on her heel and rounds my car.

Absently, I jab my keys into the door. Eventually I manage to unlock my car and tumble inside shortly after. Throwing my gaze over my shoulder, I crank my car into gear and pull out of my park. I cast a furtive glance over at Jade once we're on the main road. Her eyes are cast down, and she's fiddling with the music on her PearPhone.

The buildings fly past, and I find myself wanting to speak, but Jade's music is blaring. It's so loud that I doubt she'd hear me even I did manage to summon the right words to my tongue. Slowing to a halt in front of a red light, silence suddenly engulfs the air around me. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I blink and then peer over at Jade. She's glaring down at her phone and tapping the edge of the screen impatiently.

"Seriously, what crawled up your ass? I thought we had a good thing going. Y'know letting off some steam, hanging out and…stuff." Jade's voice is thick, eventually clogging up utterly and bringing her to a grinding halt. This time when my gaze strays away from the road, Jade's glaring out the window. Her eyes are trained on sidewalk in a concerted effort to evade my gaze.

"Yeah, I know. It's just…" My valiant attempt at resurrecting our conversation falls at the first hurdle. My nerves get the best of me and I'm left with flailing lips and a voice that's abandoned me.

"Spit it out." Jade hisses, eyes flicking in my direction as her brows twitch together. I'd be irritated at her tone, but one fallen glance at her bleached knuckles tells me all I need to know. Her muscles might be coiled almost half as tightly as mine.

"It's…the more we're together, the more that's not enough for me, Jade. I want to try dating you. I want you, all of you. That's all." I answer limply, glancing sidelong at Jade. Her bottom lip is caught between her teeth, and ringlets of her raven hair have fallen across her face. I'm not sure what to do next, so I just turn back to the road and focusing on getting us home safely.

"So you're throwing a tantrum because I can't do _that_?" Jade snaps, kohl rimmed eyes widening in my direction. Her fists have curled even tighter, and incredulity tinges the edges of her words.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it." I reply, pulling the shards of a sentence together. The words hang in the air, and Jade's eyes stay on me for a few moments before they scatter back to the landscape sailing past us. I don't really know what my face is doing, but I'm certain my lips have sunken into a frown.

The silence lingers and a few corners later, we're sliding into the parking lot of what I loosely call my home. Dragging my bag out of the backseat, I watch as Jade mutely does the same. I shoulder my bag and throw the door shut behind me. As Jade and I trudge towards the hotel, there's a distance between us. I'm not even sure if it's worse than how things used to be, or if I've just seen how much better things between us could be. It was fleeting, only lasting for a day or two, but I already miss being the one Jade would entwine her fingers with.

Jade swings her backpack on her shoulder, leaning against the wall of the elevator we're stuck in. I've been spending five minute increments in this elevator for an eternity, but none of them have lingered for this long. Eventually, the doors of the elevator slither open and Jade shoulders past me. Blinking as she blazes a trail in the direction of my suite, I heave my legs into action and follow after her.

Somehow, I manage to stop my hands from rattling for long enough to jab my keys into the lock of my door. Jade's eyes fly to me for an instant, but her expression remains impassive and I'm no closer to knowing what's passing through her mind than I was on the way home. Ambling into the living room, I realize Jade's already ducked into my room. My throat tenses up, and I get this sinking feeling in my gut. It only gets worse with every step that I take.

"W-what are you doing?" I choke out, leaning against the door wrapping my arms around my chest. I'm sure that it's the only way I'm going to keep my heart from flying through the flesh and bone. Jade's stooped over her suitcase, and she's hurling clothes into it.

"I'm packing, you probably want me gone." Jade's voice hacks through me, and I feel as though she's taken to me with a rusty pair of shears. As I peer over at her, Jade's shoulders carve jagged lines into the air. From the sound of her choppy breaths, I wonder if maybe those shears didn't catch her flesh as well.

"W-what? Why would you even think that?" I eventually force something out after way too many silent moments of trying to conjure the right words to my tongue. My legs move on their own accord, and before I know it, I'm crouching down beside Jade.

"You wanted to date. We're not dating, we're…why would you keep me around now?" This time when Jade speaks, she turns to me. My heart squeezes painfully when I fall into her eyes. Jade's irises have blown wide open, and I don't think she's ever looked more raw and exposed. I've seen her heartbroken, but this is different somehow. Like I'm actually meant to see it, and it's not just Jade's emotions spilling over in my presence.

"Look, I'm not going to kick you out." The words burst through my lips almost instantly. Before I know it, my arm is slicing through the air and my spindly fingers are landing on Jade's cheek. Even as rivers of her ebony mascara mar her face, Jade's skin is perfect porcelain.

"Why?" Jade's response is just barely a broken syllable as it leaves her lips. I pull in a fast breath of thick air; silence is the only consolation that I can offer her for what feels like too long. It's only when Jade begins to pull away from my hand that the right words flock to my tongue.

"I just couldn't. It hurts seeing you right now, like really fu-really badly. I think having you walk out of that door would be worse though..." Jade's eyes flick to the ground, and a pain retching sound tears through her throat. I struggle with my lips and eventually drag them into a pale imitation of a smile. It lingers just long enough for Jade to catch sight of it, and her lips curl into the genuine article.

When she slings her arms around my shoulders, I topple off balance and we land in a heap of splayed limbs. Jade's midnight hairs spill all over me, and all I can do is lay where I've landed and enjoy the feeling of Jade's body heat intermingling with mine. I can feel the lines of a light smile curving Jade's features in the crook of my neck, her cool breath lapping my neck. The more I think, the more I realize that my chest hurts. It's not even from the fall though. Lying like this with Jade becomes tainted as I realize that these fleeting moments are all I have. I guess I had better enjoy them while I can. It won't be long before they're gone as well.

"You gunna be alright alone tonight?" I ask, once the minute hand has spiraled around the clock face a couple of times. I feel Jade shift beside me, and a lump forms in my throat. Usually Jade's movements are sleek, serpentine, so totally self-assured. As she shifts to meet my eyes, Jade's limbs are clunky and uncoordinated. For an instant, she reminds me of myself.

"Uh, yeah, why? What's happening?" Jade asks, confusion creasing her brow. I feel like the lump in my throat is going to choke me as I peer down at her. Jade's emerald eyes aren't burning. They're not even narrowed like usual. She's watching me with the widened apprehension of a child.

"I gotta go out…do stuff." I answer, trying to hold the details on my tongue. To my relief, tonight's destination stays lodged inside of my throat alongside a hundred other words.

"What kind of stuff?" In an instance, the child-like wonder slides off Jade's face. Her eyes narrow into dangerous slits, and I feel her body tighten beside me.

"Tori and I-" Three short syllables stumble off my tongue, and they're enough to hurl Jade across the room. In an instant her feet are attacking the ground, and she's marching towards the door. Screwing my eyes shut, I wonder how I can manage to mangle moments so easily.

"Have fun." Is Jade's only utterance as she slams the door to my room behind her.

I'm left with my thoughts for approximately two minutes and thirteen seconds before they overwhelm me. Rolling to my feet, I haul myself upright and linger behind my door. Through the wood I can hear a scream rip through the air. Jade's watching horror movies again. I guess watching other peoples torment dulls her own feelings.

"Why are you angry, Jade?" I squeak, approaching where Jade is tightly coiled into a ball on my couch.

"I'm not angry. You're gunna have Vega stink on you when you come home, that's all." She answers, eyes still fixed on the scenes of carnage in front of her. It only takes one word to clog the air utterly as it leaves Jade's throat.

Home.

Home as in the place we're in now. Home as in the place Jade and I are living in. Hearing the word leave Jade's lips sounds so domestic. With it, a whole new rash of feelings and thoughts erupt within me. There's a million questions that I want to ask Jade, but of course I splutter something utterly inane with my next words.

"Vega stink as in Tori Vega stink? As in Tori and me stinking collectively?" It's a stream of barely coherent ramblings, but it's a stream that finally drags two emerald eyes in my direction. The metal in Jade's brow catches in the light as a sculpted eyebrow arcs questioningly.

"That'd be the one." Jade answers, trying to sound flippant as usual. Rounding the couch, I flop down on the couch. Glowering at me, Jade screws her arms across her chest. She's wound them so tight that I wonder how she's managing to breath at all.

"Unbelievable…you're ridiculous." I state, holding her gaze. Incredulous laughter peppers the air as I lose control of myself. I can't even fathom what Jade's insinuating right now.

"What?" Jade demands, eyes blowing wide open as she totally loses track of the movie she'd so adamantly been watching. I rake my fingers through my head, still chuckling slightly. I can't believe how much things have changed since this time last week.

"The thought of Tori and me alone is seriously making you freak out?" I ask, balling my fist and tapping it against my lips. It's nothing really, just another limb between Jade and I, but somehow it makes me feel safer when her eyes begin to narrow.

"No, of course n-Fine, yes it is. Happy?" Jade grits out, resisting her final answer every step of the way. When she's silent again, Jade looks greatly aggrieved by the whole situation. The sadness that had tinged her words has melted away, and normalcy has begun to fall back into Jade's tone.

"So you seriously think that Tori would jump at the chance to make out with me?" I ask slowly, padding my words with time to lessen their impact. Even with those precautions, Jade's eyebrows break above her nose, and coils up even further. Her breathing comes in choppy waves, and for a moment, I think she's going to leap at me.

"Vega has terrible taste…she might." Jade answers simply, turning back to the television. I think Jade's denial has arrived on the scene. Fashionably late of course.

"Terrible taste or not, two week ago would the thought of Tori jumping my bones have ever entered your mind?" I ask carefully. The words taste bitter coming up my throat, so I sugar coat them as they fly past my tongue. Even still, Jade's shoulders rattle with disgust as she digests my question.

"Fine, no. Not in a million years, but that was then and…nothing. Forget it." Jade snaps, words clanking for her lips in an ugly rhythm. By the time she's stifled herself, Jade's cheeks are burning an aggressive shade of crimson. The edge of my lips curl upward as Jade irritably brushes her hair forwards and covers the offending skin. Not that I'd ever tell her, but Jade's kind of cute, kind of really cute when she's embarrassed.

"And what?" I ask, daring to brave Jade's wrath for the sake of an answer. Like clock work, the cuteness vanishes from her face in an instant. Somehow in it's shadow, Jade's glower doesn't seem so powerful though.

"I don't wanna say." Jade's response catches me off guard this time, though. Her eyebrows knit together, and she draws her knees up to her chin. It's the kind of vulnerability Jade never shows at school. All it does is make me wish she'd let me get closer than I already am, though.

"I'll buy you fancy coffee tomorrow?" I offer, scooting towards Jade. I lean into her and knock her knees together playfully, tying to coax a smile to her lips.

"What kind of fancy coffee?" Jade asks, still valiantly trying to fight the smile from her lips. When our eyes meet, I catch sight of something I had thought was long dead in Jade. Hidden deep inside of her pitch-black irises is the kind of unbridled excitement that only a child preparing to receive a gift can muster.

"The most expensive one you can find." I answer, rolling my shoulders casually. I've seen the menus at school. The best coffee they have is only around $15. It's a small price to pay for whatever sliver of knowledge Jade is offering.

"Deal." Jade states, nodding her head decisively. For the first time in what feels like an age, Jade and I are both smiling. The moment hangs between us until Jade sucks her top lip between her teeth, indecision battling embarrassment on her features.

"Uh, Jade?" I ask cautiously, wondering if Jade's conveniently forgotten that she's supposed to be talking. I've know her for long enough to have taken note of that nasty habit.

"I'm getting there." Jade snaps, eyes flying towards me and hands gnarling into fists. Thrusting my palms between us, I wave the white flag and sink back into my seat. Jade will speak when she's ready and not a moment earlier. As I watch her focus sharpen, I realize she's not keeping me waiting just for the sake of it.

"And Two weeks ago, I didn't realize you're kind of okay kisser." Jade grits out finally. My tongue lolls in the bottle of my mouth, and my shoulders slump toward the ground. All of the hassle, just for her to say that? I can't help but feel let down, to be honest.

"Kind of okay? What an endorsement…" I mumble dejectedly. I've fallen into a pit of self-pity when I feel the slight brush of Jade's fingers as her hand lands on my forearm. Turning to her, I realize she's trying to force out more words.

"Kind of really okay and I don't want to share." Jade grumbles, staring at me intensely. The longer her eyes linger on me, the more I realize that Jade's not kidding. There's something between us, something more than having a good time. I think I've finally found somebody with more issues expressing their feelings than myself. I think I've fallen in love with an emotional invalid.

"Well, Tori doesn't know that. I'm pretty sure she thinks I have the endowments of Ken doll…" I joke, falling on the only crutch I've ever known. When things get too real, I find myself diving in the direction of a joke. Jade smiles and sighs audibly. I think she's as relieved as I am that we've abandoned serious conversation. Well for a moment, at least.

"That's not entirely accurate is it, Shapiro?" Jade purrs seductively, leaning forward and running her tongue over her top lip. Just like that, the air is thick again and I'm struggling to breath.

"Jade!" I squawk, trying to force myself to move away as she crawls toward me. Jade's blouse has ridden down, and her creamy skin is spilling forth. For a moment, it makes me wonder why I even want to leave. It's not until Jade places her hand over my chest, and several shards inside come loose, that I remember. If Jade needs time, then so do I.

"I-I gotta go…" I mumble, diving from the couch. With my absence next to her, Jade topples over and lands face first on the couch. As she lays splayed out on the couch for a moment, I realize Jade even manages to fall more gracefully than I do. Tearing my eyes away from her curves, I skulk towards the door, regretting my departure more and more with every step.

"Not even a goodbye kiss?" Jade calls, words smoldering as they slink into my ears. Even as I'm facing the door, I can picture Jade's eyes swirling with dark clouds of desire. Padding my thighs fretfully with my palms, I try to shake the thoughts loose. Turning up on Tori's doorstep with an excess blood supply in my pants would only end in disaster.

"Sorry Jade, that's a relationship thing." I state soberly, eyes falling to the floor as any lingering traces of excitement leave my body.

"So?" Jade counters flippantly, a strange combination of confusion and boredom coloring her tone. I had hoped she would say that, to be honest. Turning on my heel I spin to face Jade. She's hanging over the back of the couch, eyebrows knitted tightly together in annoyance.

"We're not dating, Jade. We're just having a good time sleeping in our underwear together, skipping school, going on fake dates. You know, fun stuff." I state blandly, the words dropping like boulders from my lips. Jade blinks with a start, and then nods curtly. As I turn around again, she's dropping back into her previous position. Seeing the last of her loose curls disappear is heart wrenching to say the last, but I've got nobody to blame but myself. If it wasn't for the stupid withered organ in my chest, I could have just snagged a kiss with a beautiful girl. Instead, I just made us both feel horrible. Smooth Robbie, real smooth.

"See you later Jade." I murmur, barely tossing the words over my shoulder. I don't turn to see if Jade is watching me, and I don't wait for a response.

I just curl my hand around the door handle and leave.

* * *

><p><strong>It's not total despair like last time. Hey, that's something isn't it?<strong>

**Oh, it's not enough?**

**Yeah, I know. The Rade universe is a little depressing right now. But if you'll just mosey over to my profile, you'll find a fluffy little ditty called "At The Drive-In" to ease the pain until Tell Your Story Walking, Perfect To Us and this story lighten up a little.**


	16. The Grateful Prey

_**A night to remember, a day to forget,**_

_**Don't stop 'til we pirouette. I have no shame, You're no better,**_

_**One more time we are together, How do you say goodbye?**_

_**When you've hardly said hello?**_

* * *

><p>Tori's welcoming grin and the accompanying hug make me feel nauseous.<p>

It's not that having her bronzed arms wrapped around me as she babbles about how much fun this is going to be is awful. It's just that every second in her presence feels like a betrayal to Jade. Pulling away from Tori's overly enthusiastic grip and holding her at arms length, I regard my friend for a moment as words continue to spill from her lips.

Tori Vega is beautiful, there's no doubting it. Loose spools of her chestnut hair frame her high cheekbones and her warm, friendly features. Tori's lean body is athletic, statuesque even. She's a teenage dream, and yet as I follow her inside, I feel nothing. Well not nothing, she's one of my best friends. Just nothing in the sense of a romantic entanglement towards her. I keep trying to explain how my crush on Tori died, but the only thing I dredge up is unsatisfying to say the least.

She's not Jade.

"Hey Robbie, are you okay?" Tori asks, eyebrows upturned in concern as we plop down at her family's dining table. Okay is a relative term, but compared to before, I'm fine. There's something about the warm ambience of the Vega home that sets me at ease. Well, for the most part at least.

"Yeah, t-totally. So, lets…er, read these scripts." I reply, stitching together a fairly unconvincing lie. Tori's eyebrows dip, but she shrugs as amiably passes one of Jade's script to me anyway. I lift my lips into a grateful smile, knowing this will gnaw at Tori. She's just trying to keep a lip on her questions for my sake, I guess. Either that, or she knows I'll spill it all to her eventually.

In a word, Jade's script is fascinating. In another, it's utterly terrifying. I flip from page to page, scared of the horrors awaiting and yet, unable to put it down. Flicking my eyes to Tori, I notice she's doing the same thing. Her knuckles are bleached much whiter than mine as she clenches the script though. As my eyes fly over the last lines of dialogue, I wonder where Jade is going to get all of the fake blood she needs. I hope she doesn't ask Cat or anybody related to Cat this time. Hollywood Arts almost get shut down after Cat's brother delivered 8 pints of real blood last time.

"Can you tell your g-whatever Jade is, that this script is making me want to barf." Tori wheezes, pulling me away from my thoughts. Placing my script down in front of me, I suppress a chuckle as Tori hurls hers down. The color has left her face, and I think she's teetering at the edge of fainting.

"C'mon, it's not so bad." I reply, ignoring the blackened thoughts invading my mind at Tori's mention of my status with Jade. Keeping my partner from fainting is a more pressing issue right now, so I keep my words soft and reassuring.

"I mean if you ignore the gore, it's actually very sweet." I elaborate when Tori still looks unconvinced. Her eyes might be narrowed in suspicion, but at least Tori's complexion is more Vega, and less Casper The Friendly Ghost.

"Really?" She asks, folding her arms. Chewing the inside of my lip as Tori's eyebrows rise, I realize that she's expecting me to elaborate on that lie.

"Yes…" I murmur, nodding slowly. Tori unfolds her arms for just a second to waggle her arms in my direction. Twisting my lips, I'm fairly sure it was a primitive attempt to drag further explanation from me. I'd like to give it to her too; unfortunately none of the lies flittering to my tongue seem to stick.

"Oh yeah, I see what you mean Robbie. Jade's a real sweetheart." Tori states sarcastically, coffee eyes widening for emphasis. A smile drifts onto my lips as Tori continues to nod her head in agreement to an imaginary response from me.

"Jade's not going to come and re-enact scene three because you're here, is she?" Tori asks abruptly, reeling in her copy of Jade's script and flicking to the scene in question and shuddering.

"Uh…" It's not the most intelligent of responses, but Jade's reaction to me coming here had not been favourable in the slightest. If I were to close my eyes right now, I'm sure I could conjure the image of Jade bursting through the door with a pair of electric scissors. I'm not sure Tori even wants my answer to her question, truthfully.

"Uh!? What does uh mean!?" Tori erupts, wailing incredulously. Watching as Tori slams her script down and begins to huff, I sink back into my seat. She's really beginning to work herself into a frenzy. When Tori's reached the bulging eye stage, the only thing you can do is ride out the storm.

"It means uh, as in uh, that depends." I answer evasively, threading my fingers and peering down at them. Maybe if I don't make eye contact with the beast beside me, she'll move onto another target.

"On what!" Tori shrieks, spiralling to face me and gnarling her fists around my shirt collar. Feeling the constriction around my neck as I'm dragged forward, my mind falls into another time and place. As Tori's cool breath caresses me and she continues to warble, all I can see is Jade's puckered lips. She'd been so beautiful when we'd kissed.

"Jade…uh, Jade gets really paranoid as you may know. Uh, and I think that she thinks you have a crush on me." I answer, finally snapping back into reality. The lack of raven hair reminding me that it's not Jade that has me by the neck, but Tori.

"A cru…a crush!?" Tori wheezes, grip on me slackening as the information seeps into her head. Tori's full lips flail feebly for a few more moments, and I wonder if I've somehow broken her brain. Jade's way off the mark. The thought of even liking me has sent Tori's mind into a meltdown, I think bitterly.

"Yes, a crush. Why is that so unfathomable?" I hiss, suddenly feeling quite offended. It's not that I'm in love with Tori, I don't even know what it is. Maybe sleeping beside Jade has kicked some long dormant testosterone loose in my body.

"Uh, because I'm not stupid." Tori retorts, releasing me from her grip and rolling her eyes severely. Once again, I've missed a step in her thought process and feel totally lost. Maybe it's not Jade or Tori, but girls in general that I can't figure out.

"Oh, so it's stupid to crush on me?" I counter, eyes narrowing as I push my glasses up onto the bridge of my nose. Tori's eyes blow wide open at the sharpness of my words, and she waves her hands frantically.

"No, it's stupid to crush on the same guy Jade's date-not dating, dating? I don't I know! Whatever it is, Jade was giving you goo goo eyes today when she thought nobody was looking. I am not getting sucked into this again. Noo sir, no way." Tori exclaims, head rattling back and forth amid a flurry of chestnut tendrils.

"I didn't see any goo goo eyes…" I mumble, unable to keep a lid on that thought. Jade doesn't even have goo goo eyes, let alone make them in my direction. I must have misheard Tori. Surely she's about to correct me, based off the smug look that's contorting her features right about now.

"Yeah, of course you didn't. But old Tori did! I see all." Tori announces, eyes widening and irises blowing apart in a frenzy. As Tori points first in the direction of her eyes, and then with a flourish around the room, I suppress laughter. Tori craziness spills out from time to time, and I wonder how she keeps a lid on it the rest of the time. It seems like there's so much of it bubbling beneath her seemingly normal exterior.

"You know, you're kind of a creeper, Tori." I state dryly, when Tori finally comes a halt. My lips curl slightly as I rock on my seat. It's no wonder Jade's so relentless with Tori. She's such an easy target.

"Don't look so happy about it." Tori grumbles, sinking back into her seat. She looks offended for a moment, but a smile fights it's way onto Tori's lips before I can start feeling too nervous. For a brief moment, I forget all about the stupid feelings my heart and Jade's heart are having for each other, and Tori and I are just laughing. It's a welcome interlude from the uncertainty of today.

"I mean, thanks Tori. Like, really I never know what Jade is thinking..." I state soberly, when our laughter comes to its natural conclusion. Tori nods silently, lips flickering into another smile. It's kind of reassuring, and it makes me think that Tori is going to be an amazing mother some day. You know, if she can keep the lid on her crazy.

"No problem." Tori chirps, already throwing her arms around my neck. It should be awkward, but it's not. There's no sudden rush of blood for me, and no dashing away for Tori as we hug. I think it's a moment of realization for the both of us. We're friends, like really good friends. Truthfully, I think Tori would be my best man if I were to get married tomorrow. I'm not sure whether it's an indication of how close we are, or an indication of how distant I am with everybody else.

Hours fall away after Tori finally settles into working alongside me. Once in a while, I find myself being peppered by enthusiastic questions about how I'm feeling, but Tori's more easily placated than Jade. A few evasive answers and we're working again. Between Tori's attempts to wrestle gossip from me, we actually pull together a few ideas that I think Jade won't totally hate.

When midnight creeps up on us, Tori yelps about losing track of time and shunts me towards the door. Her scramble to get me into my car is an exercise in barely coordinated limbs, and brings a smile to my lips. It's a curve in my expression that lasts long into my drive home. It's only when I'm hauling the door to my suite open that it begins to fade. The room is bathed in nothing more than the moon's pale glow, which drains the color from everything and makes me feel as though I'm walking into one of Jade's favorite movies. Feeling unnerved, I hastily cross the living room and shoulder the door to my room open.

"You up?" I ask, my voice cracking with apprehension. My question hangs in the air for a moment, and I adjust my glasses in the hope of seeing something in the pitch-black darkness of my room. I'm nothing but loose joints and rattling bones while I wait for any kind of reply to cut through the air.

"Yeah, I'm still up." Jade answers, flipping over to face me. She lies there for a moment, eyes just barely peeking over the sheets as I linger in the doorway. Jade's eyes catch on me, and I guess she's waiting for me to say something. The possibilities buzz inside of my skull, filling my head to the point of bursting. Jade's expression offers little in the way of clues, and I depart from her clouded eyes none the wiser.

"I'm gunna…I'll go and sleep on the couch. You know, because just being inside of Vega's house probably stunk me up." I force out, my shoulders bunching together as Jade's eyebrows screw together.

"No! …I mean, you didn't use her first name. That like, counteracts it. You can take up half of the bed if you want." My eyes have begun to adjust to the darkness, and details of Jade's figure begin to etch themselves out against the veil of this midnight hour. As Jade speaks, she tries to offset the frantic edge to her words with a roll of her shoulders. The blankets covering her dull the action, but Jade's last ditch effort at gripping onto some sense of normalcy still stands out against the night's air.

"Really? You actually want me here?" I ask, trying to push away the hope that's creeping into my words. The biggest mistake I made at Tori's house was letting her reassuring words make me think Jade sees me as anything more than a source of company, shelter and warmth.

"Not a word." Jade growls, trying to be the force of nature I used to think she was. I'm not sure she'll ever be that person though. I've burrowed deeper into her life than I think she ever wanted me to. For better or worse, things between us have changed.

"Hurry up. I'm not waiting for you all night." I take a long, deep breath as Jade illustrates her impatience by tapping her wrist. With a nod, I'm wrenching my shirt over my head, and depositing it on the ground. There's some ridiculous notion in my head that the absence of clothes between us makes us closer. I'm being stupid, of course. I'm the fool in love, Jade's just another victim of this years heat wave.

The carpet sinks under every step I take, and hesitation works it's way deep into my bones. I swipe the sheets away, and slide beneath the covers beside Jade. Her hair is spilled over the space between us, and she's still facing me. My heart thuds against my ribs as I roll over to face her. The silence between us is an interlude that I spend studying her features. From the crook of her neck that's just above the covers, to her raven tresses, Jade's more than just hot. Without eyes rimmed in coal, she's beautiful and stunning. She's a masterpiece, and she's closing the distance between us.

"J-Jade…" I yelp, eyes blowing apart as the last inch between us disappears. The contents of my chest stutter as I feel the rhythm of Jade's heart against my own. The heat of our bodies intertwines as I feel Jade's flesh against my own. I'm struggling to do anything more than breath, when a grin slithers onto Jade's lips. I try not to think about the fact that we're only separated by the material of my underwear. The garment around my waist that suddenly feels much too thin. Try as I might, the thought won't drift from the very surface of my thoughts, either.

Jade West is lying next to me, and she's naked.

"Yess?" Jade chirps, eyes widening in surprise as her lips part. It's a mask of pure irony. A jolt thunders through me as Jade shifts and I feel her leg snake behind my knee. Marshalling my last few remaining brain cells, I force my tongue into action.

"Um, where are your clothes?" I blurt out, words somehow climbing between my lips in a coherent order. Jade's grin flickers for a moment, deepening, and then disappearing totally for a second as she considers her next move. I feel like a disoriented child locked in a game of chess with a finessed master.

"Can't you just-Yeah, of course not. Robbie Shapiro wants an explanation…" Jade groans, a stream of consciousness fluttering from her lips and swirling around us. Absently, she rakes her fingers through my hair, and my heart is overcome with the sudden urge to burst. It's terrifying, and yet more exhilarating than anything I've ever experienced to have Jade this close to me. I smile tentatively, hoping it won't break whatever spell has been cast on Jade. I'm immensely relieved when she mimics the gesture for a second and begins to speak again.

"Look Shapiro, I'm not good with feelings. I do know…I know that you were wazzed today though, and…it kind of sucked. I'm no good with explaining this kind of things but I can show you I guess. I mean, I'm not trying to molest you or anything. It's just – Ugh. You're the one with the fogged up nerd goggles, you figure out what I'm doing laying here naked…" Jade winces with every word, like dragging them from her tongue is physically painful. I want to say something beautiful and poetic, anything better than the gurgle that creeps through my lips. Skewing my jaw to the side, I try to wrestle anything better than a monosyllabic word out of my throat.

"Er…" Yeah, I've never been good with girls. Apparently naked ones are no exception, rare as they may be. Time shuffles past us, and I kind of just toy with the sheet in my grasp. Just when I think I've found my bearings, Jade's knuckles rattle lightly against my forehead. Turning away from the roof, Jade's deep green eyes drift into view. Her skin's all splotchy, and ivory orbs have become stained red. She's just barely holding onto the smirk that's on her lips.

"Um…" I mumble stupidly. Fears have carved their way into Jade's face. In spite of my best, I fail to elaborate on my earlier thought in the slightest. She still looks miserable when she speaks again.

"Seriously, have you gone brain dead?" Jade asks, painfully widening her watery smile. She's shaking my shoulders, and checking for signs of life behind my eyes. It's just an act though, something to occupy her as I desperately will words to my tongue.

"N-no. I mean, I know what you're doing…" I state, trying to sound confident and nodding my head as though I'm about to say something profound. Jade's muscles uncoil, and her features loosen somewhat. I've piqued her interest. Now I just need to figure out what the hell I'm going to say.

"What _am_ I doing then, Shapiro?" Jade asks impatiently, trying to dredge some kind of response from me. Without thinking, I curl an arm around Jade. All of a sudden, Jade's shuffling closer, and all of her creamy white skin is pressed against me. I wait for the cardiac episode that's sure to follow with a beautiful girl pressed so tightly against me, but it stutters and never quite arrives. In it's place, realization mows me down. This isn't a hormonal imbalance, or anything or anything of the kind. It's Jade's idea of commitment.

"You're showing me that you do care about us, and this is more than us having a good time, right?" I stammer, the excitement clogging my throat and jumbling my words more than usual. Jade sucks her top lip beneath her bottom one, and nods slightly, like I'm actually close to the mark for once. I've never come remotely close to decoding a girl. Sometimes though, when I'm with Jade, I feel like I've at least figured out the first line of encoded words.

"You got all of that from me laying naked in your bed?" Jade asks, eyes beginning to sparkle again. Her mouth twists into a grin that I suppose is meant to be smug, but it just broadcasts relief.

"But I'm right, aren't I?" I ask, triumph written in my voice. A low growl rumbles through Jade's lips, and I feel her writhe against me in dissatisfaction for an instant. It's meant to be pained, but again Jade ruins her own charade with a smile. My throat constricts at the thought that I'm the reason for that smile. It's not a smirk, and it's not dripping with malice. Jade just looks happy.

"Yes." She grits out, finally managing to look a little irritated. It's reckless and it's stupid, but I place a finger over her chin and guide Jade's lips to mine. She tastes like coffee, of course and I even think there's a wisp of chocolate in there, too. When I pull away, it's not because I'm sick of the sensation. It's just that the complaints from my lungs have grown too loud. As we part, Jade watches me through half lidded eyes for a moment.

"Look, I'm not ready for labels right now, but…don't go screwing around with Vega just yet, okay?" Jade finally spits out, having done battle with the words as they'd clung desperately to her tongue. She looks a lot small than usual, and somehow it's enough. Without waiting, I sweep her into my arms and drag her close.

Thoughts of Tori, and of anything outside of these walls are flung to the far reaches of my mind. Hell can wait, because tonight I've got Jade in my arms. It might only last until the sun burns away this beautiful dream, but I'm going to hold onto it while I can.

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><p><strong>Well, it took a little while to get this out. I haven't been lazy though. Last week I pumped out four one shots, and two chapters for a new fic. What new fic you might be asking yourself? Well, it's called In A Mirror, Darkly and it's a collab with Zen. It's less grounded in reality than this one, but it's being co-written by the Captain of this entire ship, so you know it's good. Also, while I'm ranting away, my awesome beta has a fic up called First Ascension. It's a Rori fic, but it's also really good. Check it out too :) <strong>

**Phew, that's me done. Leave a review, you crazy kids!**


	17. Sleep With One Eye Open

"**I've made my bed, so I'll lie in it**

**I've dug my grave, so I'll die in it"**

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><p>I'm trapped.<p>

Jade is asleep beside me, and my hand is stuck somewhere beneath her. A thick block of sunlight is just beginning to creep across Jade's bare back, and I realize it's almost time to fall back into real life. As the beam of light creeps over Jade's spine, I just lay back and watch it. Jade sleeps like a log, so I know moving won't wake her. It's the blankets that are twisted around our bodies that are the problem. They're so badly skewed I feel like even the slightest move will tear them away from Jade's body. As comfortable as she'd been spilling herself all over me, I can't help but wonder if that would upset her. I'm all out to sea in uncharted waters. Uncertainty is at every horizon.

Jade stirs, and a small squeak bursts through her lips as she continues to doze. I wonder what she's dreaming about. It had been such a happy little sound. My thoughts trail around in circles for a while longer, until Jade's phone goes off on the bedside table beside me. With a low growl, the slumbering girl beside me is no more. Jade shoots across the bed, and all of a sudden ivory flesh is melting against mine. I'm painfully aware of Jade's movements as she jabs at her phone to shut it up. Without the veil of darkness, I feel so much more exposed. How is Jade not freaking out right now?

"Do I still get coffee?" Jade asks, leaning on my chest. Bleary green eyes meet mine for an instant, and there's a lump the size of the Titanic in my chest. Even through the inky tendrils spilling over Jade's face, the glint of uncertainty is like a solar flare.

"Yeah, totally of course." I mumble distractedly. Jade's body is draped over mine, and it's hard to thread together two coherent thoughts. Even in my hazy state, I recognize as the uncertainty in Jade's eyes withers slightly. Catching her bottom lip between her teeth, Jade gives an appreciative hum and rolls onto her back. Her eyelids slide over her eyes a moment later, and I realize that's about all the interaction I'm going to have with Jade until she hears the jug boiling.

Carefully peeling the covers away, I extricate myself from the bed and slink in the direction of the kitchen without a second glance. Ambling into the kitchen, I set about concocting the only thing capable of prying Jade all the way out of the clutches of unconsciousness. My mind dwells on the thoughts for the entirety of my mission, but that's okay. Thinking of Jade without any clothes isn't entirely, or at all unpleasant. Moments later, just when the jug is climbing to it's crescendo, I hear sounds of life in the distance. Jade's finally dredged up enough energy to rise from the dead to claim her prize.

"Here's y-you're…"

I turn towards my door, and the ability to speak abandons me. Even stumbling out of bed, Jade's ridiculously attractive. Her eyes are half lidded, and last night's makeup is still smeared over Jade's face. It should make her look terrible, but all it does is make Jade's emerald eyes smoulder. Hanging my arm out, and holding Jade's coffee aloft, I try to hold my gaze above Jade's collarbone. It's kind of hard though, when she's wearing one of my shirts. One of my shirts with only two buttons done up, and nothing else. The checked pattern is all blown out of shape by the swell of Jade's curves, and something tells me that she's all too aware of this fact. When Jade reaches out and takes the coffee from my hand, the pink tip of her tongue darts between her lips and moistens them. Needless to say, I duck past Jade and dive in the direction of the bathroom.

After a night like last night and waking up to _that_, I need a cold shower.

By the time I step out of the shower, Jade's still smirking triumphantly. When she steps away from the kitchen counter, I swear there's an extra sway in her hips. It's a thread that passes through the rest of the morning. By the time I'm sitting in the passenger seat of Jade's car, I feel scandalized in the best possible way. My satisfaction doesn't linger for long though.

As we veer through the streets leading to Hollywood Arts, I wish Jade hadn't been so insistent on driving today. We've blown through at least one red light, and Jade's flipped off several other people. By the time Hollywood Arts hangs on the horizon, my knuckles are bleached white and I'm holding onto my seat for dear life. Jade's driving could best be called erratic, and that's putting it mildly. Maybe it's the music pouring through the speakers, maybe it's the caffeine. Either way, it's quickly becoming obvious to me why Beck was always so insistent on driving.

Shockingly, the rest of the day drifts past without any entirely horrific events occurring. Dwelling on that reality, I think it's fate's way of taking mercy on me. I still have to deal with the drive home after all.

Class has long since let out, and the hallways are mostly empty. Leaning my head back against my locker, I empty my lungs. Jade's fraying temper in last period has been a source of many delays since we started riding together. It's almost inevitable that after the last bell of the day, I'll be left waiting for Jade while she's reminded on proper classroom etiquette. I'm off and away in my thoughts, so the increasing frustration on Tori's face doesn't really register until it's too late.

"Robbie, pay attention!" Perking my eyebrows, I see Tori pushing her way into my line of vision. From the way she's snorting indignantly and using her hands to forcibly drag my gaze in her direction, I guess Tori's been rattling on about something important. Blinking myself into awareness, I notice Tori's usually soft features have calcified into something much harder than usual. I really need to figure out a way to sleep for more than a few stolen hours per night.

"Uhh, sorry. What were you saying?" I ask, reaching up and prying Tori's fingers away. Squeezing her fingers lightly, I give Tori my assurance that she has my attention. She laughs, and it's a light tittering sound. Nothing at all like the deep, rich crow of Jade's amusement.

"Well Mr. Shapiro, I was just saying that we need to meet again tonight be-"

The words never escape through Tori's lips, because Jade erupts from out of nowhere. Blinking with a start as Jade's fingers snag my wrist, I realize that I'd been holding onto Tori's hands at the time Jade had caught sight of us. No wonder green eyes have narrowed into the thinnest of slits. Beside us, Tori's eyes are darting between Jade and I. Concern is etched in her face, and I feel like we've stumbled into the middle of a storm.

"What was _that_?" Jade hisses, words grinding between her teeth. When she emphasizes her displeasure by jabbing her free hand between Tori and I, it's painfully clear just what she's seeing. Her eyesight has been clouded by years of seeing girls pursuing Beck. In Jade's eyes, even the most harmless of friendly embraces looks like a threat. Sucking in a loud breath, I attempt to drag together enough succinct words to explain my theory before Jade declares me guilty.

"I er-"

"Jade, I know what you're thinking, and before you do anything rash to Robbie…this is all my fault!" Tori explodes, cutting through my words with her latest overzealous attempt at gaining Jade's favour. From the corner of my eye, I catch Tori taking a tentative step towards Jade. Her palms are upturned, and she's fallen into the way too familiar role of peacemaker. Tori's done this so many times before, that she's got all of the steps and lines memorized.

"Oh." Jade growls, eyes looking like they're about ready to pop out of her skull. I thread my fingers even more deeply through Jade's when her gazer shifts to Tori. I know I've got no hope of holding Jade back if she decides to leap for her greatest nemesis, but maybe the gesture will keep her at bay.

"So Robbie and I were working on the cinematography for your film, and he wasn't listening, so I grabbed him to like, er…you know, make him pay attention, and then you got here. See, perfectly innocent." Tori babbles, loosely connected sentences dribbling through her lips at an alarming rate. When she wraps up her explanation, Tori beams hopefully at Jade and I. I suck in a deep breath when Jade's lips begin to part again, untold horrors blatantly brewing behind them.

"I was thinking about you, er...the kitchen. Things. I was thinking about things." My words assault the air, and before the final one has set sail from my tongue, my cheeks are already burning. Emerald orbs flick in my direction, and I prepare for the end of the world. Jade's eyebrows dip low as she turns fully toward me, and something the size of a meteor embeds itself in my throat. I'm certain that I'm about to meet my end when there's a sudden spluttering to my right. Jade and I glance sidelong at Tori, watching as she struggles for breath and frantically gestures in the direction of the doors.

"I gotta…I'm leaving. Things to do, people to see. Robbie, I'll txt you or something. Jade, I'll…avoid Robbie's kitchen…his house…everything." Tori blathers, fumbling for a farewell as her eyes dart to the floor. She's skittered from perfectly normal, to totally manic in the space of less than fifteen words flying from my lips. As I watch Tori depart the room amid a tangle of flailing limbs, I wonder how Jade could possibly see that girl as such a threat. She's barely capable of dealing with an ambiguous comment, let alone plotting the downfall of an entire relationship.

"I think you broke Vega." Jade states, the tense look on her face beginning to falter. Jade's lips twist into something between a smirk and a smile. It's not quite a grin, but I'll take it after the typhoon of a few minutes ago. Navigating carefully through the minefield of emotions that no doubt reside beneath Jade's currently placid expression, I work my lips into a configuration that I hope won't trigger anything too disastrous.

"She's always been kind of wonky." I retort, rolling my shoulders ever so slightly. It's the right thing to do, I guess, because the happiness on Jade's lips only deepens. Before I have the chance to ruin the moment, Jade coils an around the crook of my elbow, and begins to propel us toward the car park. Peace settles over us for all of about five and a half steps down the hallway.

"So why _were _you holding her hands?" Jade asks, apparently having deciding that she's lured me far enough into a false sense of security to broach the subject again. I'd call it a trap, but from the way Jade's grip tenses around my arm, I'm not so sure. Jade's expression is more worried than accusing now.

"I was…er, thinking about you and er, your body…then Tori starting touching my face. So obviously, I wanted her stinky Vega hands off me and pulled them away. You just have lousy timing." I say, turning my eyes toward Jade and hoping humor hasn't led me into one of her pitfalls. From the look on Jade's face, I'd estimate that I've strung together a few sentences that have amused her, and one that's carved irritation into her features.

"I do _not_ have lousy timing." Jade rolls her eyes and tries to look upset, but it kind of just peters out. From the dramatic huff that's just left her lips, I think Jade's realized that very same thing as well.

"No your timing is great. A moment later and who knows? I might have been sucking Tori's face off! Or you know, a moment later and I wouldn't have been in middle of prying her hands off my face." I add, feeling uncharacteristically bold. As mock horror overtakes my expression, Jade watches me with a blank look on her face. I'm fairly sure she's at least half as surprised by my display as I am.

"Since when did you become so sarcastic." Jade asks, perking as eyebrow as her death grip on my arm loosens, if only a little. As we step into the afternoon sun, I feel a warmth rushing over me that's not just related to our being outdoors.

"Around the time you stopped wearing clothes to bed." I retort brazenly, not even bothering to scan the area around us. Jade scoffs, but doesn't look entirely upset by my outburst. On the contrary, actually.

"Ew!" When that shriek of displeasure erupts from nearby, Jade looks proud. A cloud of chestnut tendrils flie in the opposite direction of us, and I realize Tori must have been waiting outside for a ride home with Trina. My cheeks immediately burn with a deep crimson flush, and I doubt that I'm going to be able to look Tori in the eye for the rest of the week. As Tori disappears over the horizon, I glance sidelong at Jade apprehensively. I'm fully expecting her to be grinding an axe now that the initial thrill of Tori's horror has passed, but instead I'm greeted by a full blown grin.

"Twice in one day. You're coming along nicely." Jade chirps appreciatively, casting one last look in the direction of Tori's cloud of dust before pecking me on the cheek. A few steps later, and Jade is clambering into her car. I linger beside my door for a brief moment, wondering how exactly Jade's explosive rage melted into her kissing me. Shrugging, I drag open the door beside me and flop onto a seat beside Jade. She's already playing music that's more malice than melody, but as we roll through the gates of Hollywood Arts, it's oddly comforting to realize that not everything is changing.

"Are you going to stop attacking Tori on sight now? When a girl shrieks and runs away at the prospect of being naked around me, I don't think she's a threat to you…" I ask, glancing sidelong at Jade. She's more lucid and less like a maniac behind the wheel this afternoon. I wonder if maybe Jade's taken out all of her anger on the students of Hollywood Arts, thus freeing the road and I from Jade's wrath.

"No." Jade replies calmly, eyes resting heavily on me as we come to a halt at a stop sign. I feel my mouth drop open, and nothing comes out for the longest time. Rolling her eyes, Jade turns back to the road and shoves the car into gear.

"Please?" I finally manage to squeak out after a few moments of quiet contemplation. Jade's eyes flick to me for an instant, and her expression softens.

"No." She reiterates, lips twitching upward. It takes me a moment to realize that Jade's not actually refusing my request point blank. She's just trying to see what she can get out of me. Snapping out of my dazed state, I lumber forwards and run my fingers over Jade's forearm. Her gaze snaps away from the road, just in time to catch me as I speak.

"Pretty please, with a cherry on top?" I ask, peering over at Jade hopefully. Her lips cock upwards, and though she's still peering out at the road, I can tell I've caught her interest.

"…a cherry you say? Alright then." Jade purrs, teeth digging into her lower lip. Ringlets of her inky charcoal hair spill over her shoulders, and it's still the slightest bit surreal that she's giving me of all people that expression.

"Alright what?" I ask in a tone that's gruffer than I'd been aiming for. Jade looks nonplussed though. I suppose it's a side effect of having heard her own caustic responses for the past decade or so. Jade's expression stalls somewhere between a grin and a grimace as words bubble on her lips.

"After school tomorrow. You and I, plus a cherry sundae." The words prick at my ears, and jerk my gaze in Jade's direction. As usual, her expression gives nothing away. There's a little spark in her eyes though, the faintest glimmer that ties my stomach in knots and makes it hard to breathe.

"And maybe our good friend Tori Vega makes three?" I ask, trying to sound more confident than I feel. Jade's jaw slams shut with a loud click. For a brief terrifying moment, I think I've pushed her too far and ruined everything.

"I want sprinkles too, then." Jade says, wrinkling her nose in displeasure at the prospect of an afternoon that includes Tori. It catches me by surprise that she's agreeing to this so readily, and my stomach does another happy little somersault.

"Done." I agree, trying to seal the deal before Jade can renege. A loud sigh rattles out of Jade's lungs, and she shakes her head.

The miles fly past us, and Jade actually looks kind of pleased. Hours slink away from us, and Jade still looks kind of pleased with herself. Before we go to sleep, Jade even drags me into a kiss. Just when the last rays of consciousness are fading away from me, I wrap an arm around Jade and drag her close. It's the first time I've dared to do something so bold without asking first, and it's nerve racking to say the least. Jade's unperturbed, though. I kiss Jade's shoulder, and as her shoulders rattle, the tendrils of sleep claim me.

Hell's not so bad.

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><p><strong>Well this has taken an age to get out. It's not all bad news though. I've just penned the last chapter, and all that's left to do is write the epilogue. Really, if you'd like me to hurry up and release the last few chapters, all you need to do is bribe me with reviews. :D<strong>


	18. No Sleep Til

**"Give a little time to me, I'll burn this out. **

**We'll play hide and seek to turn this around."**

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><p>School lets out, and Jade is held up in class again. I want to be annoyed, but when she saunters up to me and crushes her lips to mine, the irritation in me melts away. Jade pulls away from me, and I'm still dazed when she snags my wrists and pulls me away from my locker. It's still so strange. Jade and I aren't really officially dating, but sometimes I can almost fool myself that we are. When we're outside, Jade kicks at the air and generally looks pleased to be free from the confines of Hollywood Arts. It's still so funny seeing this side of Jade, seeing some of her outer walls come down.<p>

By the time we're pulling up to the Groovy Smoothie, I'm still marvelling at Jade's good mood. As much as I hope it'll last, I realize that's probably a pipe dream at best. Only a few steps out of school, and I realize that bringing a helmet today might have been a good idea. Jade's shoulders already begin to bunch up as soon as her eyes catch on the back of Tori's chestnut head. Swallowing, I take a few long strides ahead of Jade. Maybe if I hold the door open for her, it'll improve Jade's mood from murderous to merely vexed. Watching her lash out at the ground as Jade stomps past me, I realize that task is easier said than done.

"Vega!" The bolt of lightning that fires off Jade's tongue almost hurls Tori out of her seat. Fanning herself, Tori twists in her seat and tries to flash her most winning grin at Jade and I. It flickers on her lips, and generally looks as thought it's only being held together by duct tape. Perhaps this really was as bad of an idea as it had first seemed.

"W-what's up?" Tori asks after a moment, still looking frazzled. With lips pushing up in triumph, Jade turns to me. I expel the air from my lungs, realizing this afternoon could potentially stretch on forever. Lifelessly, I fall into a seat across from Tori, with Jade slinking into the space beside me.

"Hello." Jade answers simply, releasing me from her grasp and threading her fingers on the table top. Watching Jade and Tori gawking at one another, I feel as though Sikowitz's ugly bronze van has parked itself in my throat.

"H-hey Jade. I'm glad you're over those wee little murderous inclinations, and we can…er, sort of be friends again…well not again. Maybe for the first time?" Tori babbles, nervous laughter sweeping through her words. Jade cocks an eyebrow, and her lips thin into an unhappy little line. Instead of firing sharp little words at Tori like I'd expected, Jade shifts her gaze to me.

"You told her I wanted to kill her?" There's a hardened edge to Jade's voice that hasn't bludgeoned me in some time. I think Sikowitz's van has been joined by Beck's RV in my throat. My lips quiver feebly, but no words climb out of my throat until Jade jabs me in the belly and knocks some loose.

"No…not in so many words." I force out, ducking down in my seat like it's a bunker. Instead of the atom blast I'm bracing myself for, Jade simply rolls her eyes and spirals back in Tori's direction.

"Ugh. Look Vega, I'm not actually going to kill you. Just don't go rubbing up on my boyf-Robbie…or whatever." I'm about to protest Jade's dodging of a certain term, but her fingers slip off the table and covertly find mine. It's a simple gesture, but it's one that silences the mutiny brewing on my lips.

"Gotcha, nooo rubbing. What about caressing though, or stroking?" Tori's attempt at a joke is like watching a train wreck. Each word that spills over her lips is another piece of carnage. Jade's fingers tighten around mine, with each passing adjective. By the time Tori has finally shut up, I'm blinking away tears at the pressure Jade is exerting.

"Vega." Jade draws Tori's surname out for a long time. It bubbles and hisses on Jade's tongue, and by the time it's slipped past her lips entirely, those four little letters feel like a threat. Tori's eyebrows shoot high onto her forehead, and she tries valiantly to smile. It perches on her lips like a grimace though.

"Kidding Jade, kidding. Friends kid, you know? What are you trying to do, drive away every other girl that comes within twenty feet of Robbie?" Tori says, opting for a slightly different tact. I stare back at her, tongue lolling uselessly in the bottom of my mouth. Jade looks less annoyed, and more thoughtful than before. It's progress, I suppose. At least Jade is thinking about how she's going to lash out, and not just trying to strangle Tori right now.

"It would make things easier…" Jade counters, rubbing her chin theatrically. The ease of Jade's tone is so unexpected that both Tori and I blink in surprise. Jade shrugs, and looks generally unaffected by our bewilderment.

"You act like I've got girls crawling all over me." I grumble, sinking into my seat. Green eyes meet mine, and for the briefest of seconds, genuine concern warps Jade's face. I'm only halfway serious, but in that instant, I realise just how huge Jade's capacity to care actually is. Behind all of the barbed words and apathy, she's actually watching my expression for signs of distress. Naturally, that look doesn't last, and soon malice is dripping from Jade's lips when her eyes shift to Tori.

"Well, last night _I_ was cra-"

"I'm gunna get our sundaes now!" Tori yelps, cutting through Jade's potentially scandalous words. I heave a sigh of relief and tilt my head back. I should have known Jade would warp those kinds of words into something to torment Tori with. From the corner of my eye, I catch Tori flapping away in the direction of the counter. Shaking my head, I wonder what reserve Tori dredges up all of her grace on stage from. It sure does manage to abandon her in the real world.

"Peace offering. Her idea to buy them." I mention idly, words dribbling through my lips with an ease that feels foreign. My hearts thumping, and I can still feel my cheeks sizzling. I should be freaking out right now, but for some reason, I actually feel kind of at ease. Maybe it's the way Jade's scarcely let go of my hand this afternoon. I almost feel like her security blanket as she attempts to enter the brave new world of being friendlier to Tori.

"Yo Vega, don't forget cherries and sprinkles!" Jade hollers, flying forwards and dragging Tori's attention back to us. When Tori squawks the affirmative, Jade slinks back into her seat beside me. It's nice. It's even nicer when I feel tresses of dark hair spilling over my shoulder. My heart thunks happily with the realization that Jade is leaning into me of her own free will, in a public place.

"I'm having fun." Jade states quietly. It's a low tone, and her words barely scratch the air, but I think Jade planned it that way. My tongue rests heavily behind my teeth, and I wonder whether she's enjoying the company of Tori and I, or if she's just enjoying tormenting us. I squeeze Jade's hand to get her attention, and a moment later green eyes are peering up at me.

"So basically all she had to do was buy you a sundae and just about wet herself, and now you're fine with Tori and I being friends?" I ask, cocking my head and peering at Jade curiously. She taps her thumb against my hand and bites on her bottom lip in contemplation.

"No." Jade says. It's succinct, if a tad impersonal.

"So you're not fine with it?" I ask, still wondering what exact piece of information Jade was disagreeing with. Jade's lips thin unhappily at being prodded for information, and her gaze dips away from mine.

"Also no." Jade's not giving me a lot to work with, but I suppose two words is better than one. After that though, there are no words. Silence falls over us. Jade tries to keep her expression impassive. But ultimately, lines of concern work their way onto her face.

"So, uh…I don't even know what to say." I confess, pushing my glasses up onto the bridge of my nose when the silence and stillness become too much. Jade's eyes remain locked on the ground, and she rips her shoulders into a shrug.

"Ugh, me either." Jade answers belatedly, sucking her bottom lip into her mouth. Her chest rises and falls, and another pregnant pause wedges itself between us.

"Uhm." It's less than eloquent and I didn't even really mean to say it, but the sound creeps through my lips anyway. I suppose I'm just looking for anything to fill in the silence. Jade's eyes finally pull away from the ground at the sound. For a moment, her lips flicker upwards. It doesn't last long though, and all too soon they're thinning out again.

"I'm not…good with these kinds of things Shapiro. Why do you think I don't want to be your girlfriend. The more…friendly we get, the harder it all is. I'm trying though, seriously…I am. It's just hard not to wig out when I see girls talking to you and realize you're not the total social misfit that I thought you were…" Jade finishes with a huff, looking more than a little aggrieved. I'm torn between feeling offended at the implication of being a social misfit, touched that Jade is trying, and confused at her jealousy. I loosen with a realisation that Jade's probably even more baffled by this whole thing than I am. I can't seem to pull the right words to my lips, so I just tighten my grip around Jade's shoulder. She shuffles closer, and for now that's enough.

"Hey, check out Tori…" I murmur, tapping Jade's thigh and directing her eyes at the large counter across the room from us. Tori makes a comment that we can't quite hear, and leans forward onto the counter. Well tries to anyway. A second later, and she's tumbling face first into the glass surface with an agitated squawk. A strangled laugh claws its way out of Jade's throat, and I grin despite myself.

"What is she doing?" Jade hisses, actually looking confused when Tori starts pantomiming something. By the time the words have passed, Tori's cheeks are burning a deep crimson, and she's silently gawking at the server while he prepares Jade's sundae.

"Flirting. Are you really threatened by _that_?" I answer dryly. Jade turns to me, blinking with a start at my sardonic answer. I smile, and it sets off Jade's lips into an upward curl. Her eyes twinkle, and it would be so easy to get lost in them. Jade kisses me appreciatively, and I'm pretty sure little hearts are bubbling above my head when she pulls away. Jade snickers in response, and a moment later I'm joining her.

"I know what you're laughing at, and shut up." Tori grumbles, dropping her purchases onto the table with a loud clatter. I bristle uncomfortably in my seat, bracing for the oncoming storm. It never quite arrives though. Jade's lips twist, but a smirk perches on them instead of a scowl. Tori's eyebrows drift towards the top of her head, and her expression mirrors mine as Jade lifts a silver spoon to her lips. Eventually, Tori manages a smile that Jade has accepted her sundae. I think we'd both kind of been expecting her to wear it at around this point.

"You know Vega, you're not so bad." The words catch Tori off guard, and a muffled choking sound explodes from her throat. By the time Tori's eyes are shooting over the table at Jade, she's already returning to inhaling her desert. Having failed to meet Jade's gaze, Tori's narrowed eyes skip over to me. I manage a laugh and roll my shoulders. Like I'd know what Jade is thinking.

"What makes you say that? Is it the free ice cream? I'm pretty sure I've already tried free ice cream. Maybe the third time is the charm…" Tori babbles, words dribbling freely through her lips. Even though she's not watching Tori, I feel Jade's body tense beside me. Biting down on the inside of my lip, I time Jade's eruption almost to the second. Three, two, one…

"It's more that I've realized you have the flirtation skills of a three legged llama stumbling through a sandstorm. Between you and Shapiro here, I'm not even sure a relationship is possible. You'd never get past the awkward stuttering stage." Jade says, sounding impossibly casual for somebody that's ripping another human being's self esteem to shreds. As Tori guffaws, Jade smirks in my direction, and man it's ridiculous. She's pretty, way too pretty for me. Self consciously, I attempt to drag my fingers away from Jade. Her fingers snag mine though, and reel them towards her torso.

"I…do not!" Tori erupts, finally managing to stitch several syllables together, and dragging me from my thoughts. Tori's huffing and sitting up all straight in her seat. She's like a bird trying to fluff up it's feathers and look more menacing than it really is. The more I spend time with Tori, the more I realize why we're friends. She's as socially awkward as I am, she just has the cheekbones to mask it better than me.

"Vega, you couldn't flirt your way out of a paper bag." Jade scoffs, emerald eyes circling to the roof derisively.

The conversation stumbles around in circles similar to that until we're all ready to leave. By the time Jade is bundling me towards my car, I'm sure we've taken at least two or three steps toward a friendship between Tori and Jade. At the moment I'm contemplating that conundrum, Jade throws her head back and laughs at something on her phone. I glance over at her and wonder what it is, but Jade just grins and jerks her head in a dismissive kind of a way. When the flash of Jade's white teeth vanishes, the warmth in my chest lingers.

A week skips past Jade and I. Things don't really change between us, but for seven days we don't stumble either. I wouldn't call Tori and Jade friends yet, but Jade isn't shooting to kill when she speaks to Tori at least. Jade's streak of green has thinned, as well. I've only been yelled at three times for sitting beside Tori. That's not to say I haven't been cursed out, though. The very mention of the word relationship seems to drag caustic words from Jade's tongue. It's okay though, I guess. At least she's yelling those things at me, and not somebody else.

Somebody like Beck.

Speaking of Canadians with hair that shampoo models envy, he's been slowly wriggling his way back into my life. In the wake of his peace offering, Beck has been trying valiantly to stitch our friendship together. Today is the first time that he's pulled together the courage to sit beside me in class. Conversation still feels strained between us, but with each passing day the wounds are beginning to heal.

"So, uh…Jade really likes you, huh?" Beck says, his words sounding scratchy as they claw their way out of his throat. My shoulders bunch up at those four letters, and I turn hesitantly to Beck.

"I guess…" I mumble disconsolately. Beck's lips contort, and he gives a shake of his head at my response. My shoulders tighten, and self consciously, I drag my arms tightly to my body. Discussing Jade with Beck feels like Russian roulette. I really don't have the desire to discover who's going down in flames this time.

"Trust me Rob, she does." Beck says calmly. My eyes narrow, and my muscles coil even tighter. There's no way he's this serene when we're talking about Jade. Only the dull chatter of the people around us fills the air as I search Beck's expression for any hidden pitfalls.

"So this is the part where you get mad, right?" Subtlety doesn't work, so eventually I just barrel into the heart of the beast with blunt words. The beast rears back, and it's face scrunches up painfully. I've never been great with social interactions, and this is no exception. The grimace on Beck's face is well worn, and I realize how much of his days have probably been spent replaying that scene in front of his RV. Perversely, guilt swirls around in my chest at bringing it back up. An apology begins to brew on my lips, but Beck cuts it off at the head and waves dismissively.

"Don't say sorry, Rob. You know this whole thing is my fault." Beck mumbles, lips twisting painfully around the words. "And no, I'm not going to freak out again. I'm just…I screwed up a lot of things when I broke up with Jade. I don't want you guys to hate me."

"You're being dramatic. I don't hate you." The words fly through my lips before I have a chance to reconsider them. Beck brightens as I speak, and it feels like a weight lifts off our shoulders.

"You do actually like Jade, don't you?" Beck says suddenly, eyebrows suddenly skewing together in concern. Caught off guard, I find myself blinking and nodding my head in the affirmative. Beck's features loosen, and he looks relieved.

"I do, I-Do you really think Jade likes me? I know she tolerates me, and that she…kisses me. But whenever I mention anything about uh, dating…she totally wazzes out." The words sting my tongue, and taste bitter when I release them into the space between Beck and I. It's awkward to say the least, but I don't think anybody else knows more about Jade than Beck. If anybody can give me an insight into Jade's head, it's him.

"Yeah, she definitely does. Trust me. You just…the thing about Jade is that she'll never let you fully figure her out. You have to show her everything though. If Jade thinks you're hiding something, anything, then she'll clam up. It's just…I don't know. It's just Jade being Jade." Beck looks disconsolate, but somewhere in my head a light goes off. My lips twist upwards, and all of a sudden inspiration sparks behind my eyes.

"Rob…are you having an idea or a seizure?" Beck asks, the edges of his mouth quivering upwards as nervous laughter edges his words. My lips split into a wide grin, and slowly my shoulders begin to loosen.

"A stupid, reckless idea." I state, sounding more confident than I feel. Bouncing around in my head right now, my plan sounds good. I'm just not so sure my nerve will hold once Jade is occupying the space beside me…or in front of me…or anywhere really.

"Sounds good." Beck replies, bottom lip plumping as he nods in agreement. Swallowing the sudden lump in my throat, I nod along with him and hope that I'm not about to set foot off the edge of a cliff tonight.

I twitch and stutter my way through the rest of the day at school without running into any real problems. Truth be told, that's probably because I scarcely see Jade after speaking to Beck. From the way my palms begin to sweat at the very sight of her, I suppose that's a good thing. Still, I can't help but feel a twinge of regret that our day has been so segregated.

I'm torn between feeling relief and sheer terror when Jade flops down beside me back home at the hotel. Thankfully Jade's come into possession of a new Pear Box game and wants me to play co-op with her. It's the perfect excuse to stitch my lips shut and avoid saying anything to raise her ire. In my agitated state, that's probably for the best.

Just when the hands of the clock are just twitching past 10 o'clock, Jade muffles a yawn. Glancing sidelong at her as she presses the back of her hand to her mouth, I realize that my hour of reckoning is rapidly drawing near.

"I'm tired. Shapiro, are we going to bed anytime soon?" The phrasing of Jade's statement catches me off guard. Blinking with a start, I just sit limply and watch as a Zombie kills my character on screen. Jade's been very careful not to use any terms that might imply an us, or a we. Usually she just tells me it's time for bed and clubs me with a pillow. I feel like this must be an omen of some sort. I can't chicken out now.

"W-we? I mean…Yeah, I was just thinking about it." I fib, brushing my hand over my mouth and yawning modestly. Jade's lips quirk into a small grin, and she looks pleased with my response. With a parting slap to my leg, Jade peels herself out of her seat and ambles off in the direction of the bathroom happily. Jade really is a night person. It doesn't seem possible for somebody to be so miserable in the morning, and content in the evening. Yet, here's Jade verging on chipper.

"Shapiro, I'm waiting." Comes a clipped tone, moments later. Okay, so maybe Jade's not exactly chipper. Still, it's a good mood relative to her state most mornings. Emptying my lungs, I drag myself upright and lumber towards my fate. With each passing step, the air grows more thick, and by the time I'm hanging in the doorway, I feel like I'm being strangled.

"Jade…" I choke out, feeling weaker than ever as I step out of my jeans. Jade's looking over at me, and why did she have to choose tonight of all nights to look so beautiful? I'm not sure whether the universe is being unnecessarily cruel or not. I just busy myself with unbuttoning my shirt and try not to think about it.

"Yeah?" Jade asks distractedly, peering down at her chipped nail polish. Screwing my eyes shut, I try to imagine I'm just talking to myself. If I can convince myself Jade isn't here for a moment, maybe I can manage to force out this one last sentence without tripping over my tongue.

"Uh, I was thinking I might take these off…" I blurt out. Blindly pointing down at my boxers. In the wake of my admission, seconds seem to hold onto one another, and time stands still. Tentatively, I slide my eyelids open and peer over at Jade. She's not glaring either. Another tense moment slips past us at a glacial pace, and then Jade's biting down on her bottom lip. Her fingers fly toward the sky and then back down in a pulling motion. The implication is way too obvious.

Here goes nothing.

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><p><strong>Next chapter will be up in a few days y'all. Spam the review button in the mean time :)<strong>


	19. No Need For Words

**_"I have lost, and I have loved  
>Sleep has stolen far too much<br>Close your eyes, but not just yet"_**

* * *

><p>"C-can you turn around?" I squeak, words just barely breaking through my lips. Jade's eyebrows dip, but she tugs the comforter over her face nonetheless.<p>

Gawking at her blanketed form, I heave a deep breath and drag the waistband of my boxers in the direction of my ankles. There's a chill in the air, and my fingers scramble in front of my crotch. I swear I can see Jade's piercing green eyes from across the room. Catching my bottom lip between my teeth, I stumble across the room and haphazardly pull the covers up just enough. My movements may have lack even the vaguest sense of grace, bit at least I'm under the covers now. Under the covers with _Jade_. Time ticks by, and I lay in bed paralysed in fear. I'm not entirely sure how long the silence lasts, but it feels like an eternity before Jade shifts beside me. From the edge of my eye, I see Jade smirking at me. There's a crinkle at the edges of her eyes, and she looks highly amused by the terror pumping through my veins.

"So uh, Shapiro…why exactly are you naked?" Though Jade shakes her head, I'm pleased to note she doesn't sound entirely distraught. As the final word leaks through her lips, my bones go rigid. I have to actually _explain_ this? I can already feel stuttering words, and quaking sentences building on my tongue.

"It's not because I want sex, I swear!" I blurt out. The stream of words flies through my lips so quickly that they're already reached Jade's ears by the time I've realized what I've said. My cheeks burn with what's probably a deeply unflattering shade of crimson. Cringing, I wind my arms tightly to my body with embarrassment.

"Yeah, I figured." Jade comments dryly, seemingly unperturbed by my inappropriateness. It's a more mild response than I'd been expecting, and it's enough for me to dredge up the courage to glance away from the roof. Twisting my body, Jade comes into my line of vision. She's peering at me, eyes all wide and sparkling with questions. Her lips remain still though, and I guess it's my cue to press on.

"I er…you're naked." I say gracelessly. Screwing my eyes shut, I want to reach up and slap myself. The inclination is so strong that I swear I can feel a hand batting my cheek. Daring to slide my eyelids open, I realise Jade's extended an arm over to me. Her lips have twisted upwards, and she still looks amused. It's almost like she finds my complete lack of social co-ordination endearing sometimes.

"Yes Shapiro, good boy." Jade crows, nodding her head slowly. It's patronizing, yes. But it's not biting in the slightest. I lift one side of my mouth and prepare myself for another attempt at speaking to Jade about the subject of my nudity. Third time's the charm and all that, right?

"I didn't…Oh fu-butternuts. I meant to say…y-you've been sleeping naked beside me all week. It's just, I know I'm not much to look at and you're beautiful, but…this is me. All of me. I'm just, I don't know. You're not good with words, and I'm worse. This seemed like a good idea at the time…" I ramble, barely linking my words together with any sense of coherence. Jade's silent again, so I'm not sure that she'd even heard me. It had been such an effort to drag those words out that volume hadn't even come into my calculations. It's not until I feel her fingers slipping between mine, that I realize Jade has been listening to me intently.

"Oh, I don't know Shapiro. You're kind of hot in a Saturday Night Live kind of way." Jade intones, smirking casually and skirting the meat of what I'd mentioned. Rolling my eyes, I know exactly she's referencing. I don't think I'll ever step out of that particular shadow. Not without an extra strong pair of shears, or an industrial strength hair straightener. I'm so deeply embedded into that particular thought that when Jade flops over and rolls onto my chest, it just about gives me a cardiac episode. Midnight waves spill over my chest, and my body tightens. She's close, far too close. I can feel the heat of her thigh against my side, and the swell of her breasts against my chest. It's maddening.

"Thanks Elvira." I reply belatedly, suppressing the horrible urge that I have to curl into the foetal position. Idly, I wonder if some kind of special task force is going to burst through the door at any moment. Somebody like me being this close to somebody like Jade has to be a violation of some unwritten universal law. The lines in her face, they're like a fine piece of art. If she's a Picasso, then I'm the frenzied scribbling of a three year old.

"I really don't get you sometimes." Jade murmurs, peering up at me through her eyelashes. She's not wearing any makeup, but they're still impossibly long. They draw thin spidery shadows along her cheeks, and my heart skips a beat.

"Why?" I squawk, with charm bleeding through my words. Jade readjusts herself, and electricity crackles between us. I'm kind of amazed that my lungs are still working, to be honest.

"Sometimes you're just so…you. Then other times, I don't know…you're not. It almost feels like an accident that we're laying here like this…" Jade's voice jangles uncertainly between us, and I study her face. There's a slight flush staining Jade's cheeks, and for once, she looks the slightest bit nervous. There's a tiny crease forming between her eyebrows, and it takes me over a minute to form words of any kind. Here's this beautiful girl, and through some ridiculous series of events, she's here with me.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." I say, trying to sink into the bed beneath me. From the corner of my eyes, I see a pile of my clothes across the room. The sight rips through me, and my courage fails me. The overwhelming urge to retrieve them takes hold of me. Lurching into action, I begin to disentangle myself from Jade. I'm beginning to swing my leg off the bed when Jade's fingers push down on my chest. When I freeze, Jade's grip loosens. The flash of Jade's teeth is almost fluorescent against the pitch black of the room, and question begins to form on my lips.

"I didn't say I didn't like it." Jade says, leaning onto my shoulder whispering into my ear. Strands of inky black hair tickle my neck, and a shiver runs up my spine. When my breath seizes up again, Jade lets out a breathy laugh and melts against me.

"I feel like now would be a good time for me to kiss you." I blurt out, words flying up my throat and into the air, before I have the chance to fully realize how ludicrous they are. Jade lets go of whatever restraint she'd had, and her lips split into a wide grin.

"Jesus Shapiro, you know I hate it when people ask fir-"

Lurching forwards, I sweep Jade up in my lips. It's every bit as satisfying as I remember. Her lips are soft and wet. Not moist though, definitely not. Jade had refused to kiss me for all of about 26 hours when I'd referred to them in such a way. I'm so lost in our embrace that I barely notice when the rest of me surges forward to meet Jade as well. It's only when I feel Jade's lips breaking into a slow blooming smile against mine that I begin to wonder what she's finding so amusing.

Jade's laughter breaks through the silence, and all of the self-confidence drains away from me. Scrambling backwards, I cup the protruding part of me, and retreat to the edge of my bed. It's not like Jade hasn't conjured this kind of reaction in me before. It's just that said reaction has never jabbed her right in the stomach before, either. I can feel Jade's hand on my face again, and I'm certain that my cheek is sizzling against her palm.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Jade purrs, fingers beginning to roam away from my face. I choke on the breath in my throat when Jade's hand brushes over my hip. She doesn't even bat an eyelid when I begin to splutter. Abruptly, my voice catches in my throat when Jade's fingers curl around my manhood. She gives a tug to punctuate her statement, and my lungs empty.

"J-Jade?" The broken word teeters on my lips for a moment, before falling feebly into the air. Only by biting down on the inside of my cheek, do I contain the hail of expletives that threaten to fly through my lips when Jade's fingers run up and down my length again.

"Shut up and I might let you return the favour." Jade purrs, leaning in close to me again. The warm caress of her breath sweeps across my skin, and my mind dissolves. Bolts of electricity shoot through me as Jade's hand drags me towards ecstasy. Through the haze of the pleasure sweeping over my eyes, I'm vaguely aware of a grin on Jade's lips.

A few minutes later, it all goes white.

"S-sorry." I mumble, finally beginning to come back down. Jade's amused face floods back into focus, and she's smirking at me. Content my mind is intact, Jade casts a wary glance at her hand. It's stained with my release, but Jade barely gives it a second thought at she scrubs it away. I'm half expecting her to scowl, but it anything, Jade just looks amused. It's probably the way that my shoulders have frozen in a rather unfortunate kind of a way.

"What for? You're the one that's sleeping in the wet spot." Jade informs me, rolling onto her back. Gaping at her, I rearrange my face into the most incredulous expression that I can muster. Dragging my hands through my hair, I pull myself up onto my elbow.

"What do you think you're doing?" Jade demands, watching me adjust my position. A smirk crawls over my lips, and I rock forward to catch Jade in a another kiss. Her lips remain frozen in question for a moment, but when I run my tongue along then, Jade melts into my embrace.

"H-hopefully something good…" I reply, breaking away from her. Jade's eyebrows fly towards her hairline with my statement. Between the shock on Jade's face, a devilish smile begins to build on her lips.

"Oh, I see. Very well then Mr Shapiro." Jade smirks, rocking upright, and onto her elbows. The blanket that she'd been cloaked in tumbles away in waves, around her. Porcelain spills into view, and I chew on my lip hesitantly. Jade's eyebrows begin to sink, and that's what spurs me into action.

"Okay, ow. Not like that Shapiro. This isn't a race." Jade grumbles, pulling me away from her sensitive flesh. Meeting her gaze, a sheepish smile fumbles it's way onto my face. Jade rolls her eyes, but her slender fingers guide my hand to her soft breast as she drags me into her lips. I follow her demands as best I can, and slowly Jade's groans of irritation begin to curl into moans of appreciation. When her hips begin to strain against me, suddenly I don't feel so useless.

"N-no way…" When I pepper Jade's jawline with kisses, she almost sounds incredulous that I'm not totally screwing everything up. Her thighs part for me, and my fingers begin to stray between her legs. Jade's entire body breaks into shivers, and it's totally exhilarating to realize that she's reacting this way to me. I've got no idea what I'm doing, but when my fingers brush against her folds, Jade seems happy enough.

When my fingers slip inside of her, Jade begins to come apart at the seams. She's all rattling words and ragged breaths. It's beautiful really. It's even more beautiful when porcelain hips buckle against my hand. When the distraction freezes me momentarily, Jade pulls away from my lips. The scowl that's suddenly carved its way across her face hurls me back into action, and her back into rapture. My index finger curls inside of Jade, and her eyes roll into the back of her head. As Jade arcs her back, the rest of the blanket falls away from her alabaster skin. My mind detaches itself from my body, and I'm just following Jade's curves as she rises towards a crescendo. Green eyes seal shut, and seconds later a high pitched shriek tears through the still air.

Waves come crashing down.

"Not bad, not bad." Jade says, loosening her grip on my shoulders and falling back against the pillows beneath her. I kiss her again, and it's enough for Jade's arm to wind possessively around my back. I lean in against her, allowing the moment to overtake me. Rolling toward Jade, I find that her green eyes are already fixed on me. Her face is half buried in the pillows, and her hair is tousled, but she's never looked better. I know I'm grinning like an idiot, but Jade doesn't say anything about it for once. Instead, her eyes study my expression. I'm not sure what she's looking for, but I hope she finds it. Anything to let me hold onto this moment for a little longer.

"Hey Shapiro…" Jade mumbles, cutting through the silence again. I bite down on my lip, trying to prevent anything stupid from spilling out. It's awkward, really awkward when I remain silent. Jade huffs, opting to jab me in the collarbone. A sharp pain rips through me, and I jerk into action.

"Yeah?" Not the most original response, I'll give me that. Jade's emerald orbs circle toward the sky, but she doesn't lash out in frustration. My lips arc into a wide, probably dorky, grin. Jade doesn't scowl. Instead, she fidgets. Nerves work their way into her expression, and I wonder what's possibly stressing her out so much. She'd looked less perturbed by being naked beside me.

"Ask me again."

"Will you be my girlfriend? Can we date?" I squeak, careening into action. Jade remains silent, eyes dragging over my body. Her wandering gaze jars something loose inside of me, and I reach down and yank the comforter towards my chin. The longer Jade remains silent, the more persistent my throat becomes with it's threats of closing entirely. I shouldn't really be surprised at Jade's behaviour though. Peculiar behaviour isn't uncommon for her.

"Hang on." Jade says dispassionately. When she pulls away from me, my eyebrows slam together in confusion. Watching as Jade disappears over the edge of the bed, I wonder what exactly she's doing. Stubborn strands of Jade's ebony hair stick to her back, and I bite down on my bottom lip until the taste of copper stings my tongue. With each moment that Jade's face it out of sight, I feel like there's a wire winding around tighter and tighter inside of me. By the time Jade turns back to me, it's strangling my heart to the breaking point.

"Three…two…one…" Jade states, calmly slipping back into place beside me. By the time the last number crawls through Jade's lips, I feel like my lungs are going to collapse in on themselves. I'm gaping incredulously at Jade when my phone blares into life from somewhere in my crumpled heap of clothing. Jade jangles her head in it's direction, raised eyebrows implying that it's something important. Narrowing my eyes, I clamber over the edge of the bed and grope blindly for my phone. Wrapping my fingers around it, I look over my shoulder at Jade. Cracks have begun to form in her ice-cold façade. Feeling slightly uneasy, I push myself on onto my back and peer at the screen of my phone

"_Notification Alert for your profile on The Slap:_

_Jade West has requested to add you as her Boyfriend._

_Accept: Yes/No__**"**_

I'm shaking, and my lungs just won't fill with air. I suppose not hearing the words coming from Jade's lips should be anticlimactic, in a way. It's not though, because the words I'm reading are Jade _freaking _west asking me to date her. Time slips away from me as I memorize those beautiful, automated words. I almost forget that there's a girl beside me, whose eyes are growing increasingly frantic. Laughing obliviously, I turn to Jade and pull her into a kiss. Something twitches across Jade's lips, and it's not a smile like I'm used to.

"Y-y'know, you don't have to answer right now." Jade tells me, eyes failing to meet mine. Her words are small and tight, barely scratching the air. It's an undeniably human moment for a girl that seems all too bereft of them. Reaching down, I clasp Jade's hand in my own. Bringing our fingers towards my phone, I press down on it, lighting up the screen with a blinking 'accepted' message. The doubt slides off Jade's face, and her chin rocks with a slow nod. Her arms slink behind my neck, and it's so tight I think I might choke. Burrowing into the crook of Jade's neck, and pepper her skin with kisses. Thankfully, it's enough to loosen her grip a little.

"Like you even thought about pressing the other one." Jade says, trying to look haughty. I lean toward her, hoping to snag another kiss. Apparently I'm not fast enough though, because Jade's lips collide with mine first. She presses her lips against mine until the corners of the room start to spin. When Jade slinks down onto my shoulder, my heart is still rumbling in my ears. I think of Jade and where we've come from. It seems impossible that we're together, but we are. We're lying in bed like a regular couple. I'm not just some shard of normalcy that Jade's clinging to.

I'm actually a real part of her life.

* * *

><p><strong>Alright, now here comes the fun part. If you have an idea for the final chapter of this fic, or any questions you want answered, leave it in review. I'll take my favorite and turn it into Chapter 20. Hell, maybe they'll be inspiring enough to wring a few more chapters out of this :)<strong>

**Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. G'bye.**


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